Re: While I agree we should kill less trees..
Yes - 1000 times yes.
How about a semantic format that doesn’t represent ‘scribbles on a page’ but delineates information so that it can be easily searched, retrieved and processed by humans and computers - all the things that PDFs are not - as well as being able to be rendered on different devices or even in multiple languages ?
It is hardly the fault of HTML or CSS that web sites and HTML documents are crap - it’s a bit like blaming paint manufacturers for god-awful colour schemes.
I don’t disagree that most mass market documentation tools produce crappy HTML. But it is well within the means of tool vendors (though maybe not in their financial interest) to be able to replace PDF with equally good-looking HTML.
I understand too that knowledge of print and typography is fundamental to producing good looking documents, but the major tools in these spaces - looking at you Adobe - have no incentive to make this any easier.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
