Comment by tmoertel
1 year ago
Just my personal take, but when I have to read something carefully, I find it easier to do on paper.
For example, I recently wrote an article about taking random samples using SQL. Even though I was writing it for my blog, which is HTML, I proofread the article by rendering it as a PDF doc, printing it out, and reviewing it with a blue pen in hand.
What surprised me is that I also found it easier to review the article on the screen when it was in PDF format. TeX just does a way better job of putting words on a page than does a web browser.
Actually, if you want to do the comparison yourself, I'll put both versions online:
HTML: https://blog.moertel.com/posts/2024-08-23-sampling-with-sql....
PDF: https://blog.moertel.com/images/public_html/blog/pix-2024060...
I don't think either version is hard to read, but if I had my choice, I'd read the PDF version. But maybe that's just me.
Let me know which you prefer.
On mobile phone, as a reader with photophobia, the pdf causes physical pain, and is illegible, whereas the html is perfectly readable via reader mode (where text can be enlarged and dark mode settings are respected.
Thanks for sharing this perspective! HTML is a lot more accessible in general than PDF documents.
QQ: Do the math formulas render properly in reader mode for you? (On my test with Chrome, the answer seems to be no.)
I don’t think the formulas are rendered in reader view. (iOS Safari)
In the browser (iOS Safari) I use an extension (dark reader) to give it a dark theme, and the formulas render just fine there.
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