Re: Format of choice for immediate offline reading, easy sharing or simple portability
Placement and styling is important.
Anybody who cares about communication should appreciate how design affects interpretation.
I have a Master's in digital rhetoric, so I'm well aware that design affects interpretation. I've read scores of scholarly articles on the subject, presented on it at academic conferences, done user research, etc.
It's naive to claim that the rhetorical effects and additional information channels afforded by precise control over layout are an absolute good, or that they outweigh the tremendous advantages of responsive layouts, particularly when addressing a large and diverse audience using a wide array of devices. Unreadable documents have proven very poor at communicating and persuading.
Frankly, based on your comment, I rather doubt you've studied this area in any depth.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
