documentation on the WWW

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- COM]

      My question is this: Are there any opinions about whether users, in
      general, would prefer to down-load a .PDF copy of user documentation
      to read in Acrobat Reader (similar to what they do now) or whether we
      should convert to HTML and put the text itself online?

In general, I prefer PDF. There's more places I can view it from (such as
curling up with my laptop in my favorite chair, which is *not* next to my
desktop computer, despite what a time-motion study might lead you to
conclude).

'Net access isn't always convenient. Neither is PDF, but it emcompasses a
larger set of circumstances.

      We've thought that accessing the WWW every time you want to read
      documentation could be annoying.

It is.

       But it could be equally annoying to have to use up computer
      memory for a copy of documentation (even though that's what we expect
      them to do now).

Let's not confuse PDF docs with on-line help. It's only using memory when
I'm reading the doc, at which point I'm probably not doing much else,
anyway. Besides, you checked Netscape's (or IE's) memory demands lately? You
really think they *aren't* using a whale of a chunk of memory?

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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In God we trust; all others must provide data.
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Opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.
If JCI had an opinion on this, they'd hire someone else to deliver it.