Re: [office] auto-play presentation file format like PPS

["David A. Wheeler" <dwheeler@dwheeler.com>]

> >  To play devil's advocate, wouldn't PDF be a better format for the use
> >  case of viewing (and not editing) a document?

No.  If it's SOLELY for viewing, AND you can be guaranteed that your display has the capabilities required, PDF works well.  But if you want varying displays (e.g., on a handheld which can't display the "full" width), PDF doesn't work as well.  Raw PDF doesn't edit well.  It's possible to co-insert an editable format file into a PDF, but that greatly increases its size, and when space is a premium that's undesirable.

E.G., in "one laptop per child", space is at a premium.  Many documents (e.g., textbooks) are intended to be read, but are intentionally delivered in an editable format so that others can improve on them if they wish.  Normally, for the read-only documents, you'd invoke a different reader program (and flip the screen so that the keyboard isn't even available).  That's just an example, but I think it shows the issues.

--- David A. Wheeler