Attack of the Giant PDF
(a true story!)
(Editor’s note: while the names of those involved in this tragic incident have been changed to protect the innocent - and shield the guilty from shame - the events depicted have not)
Recently a Web designer I know emailed me to ask for suggestions as to how to handle a request from a client, a magazine publisher in Southern Maine. The request was how best to put a PDF version of the entire magazine on their Web site. We’re talking 50+ pages, and even after compression that PDF weighs in at… wait for it… 14.8MB79MB!! (14.8 was, unbelievably, for just one section - updated 6/8/07)
C’mon, people.
Let’s put down the latte and think about this for a minute. Does anyone know anyone, high speed connection or no, who says to themselves “Hmmm…. I wonder if the latest version of Portland Digest is available via PDF download from their Web site? I better make sure I have enough printer paper for that one!”
You don’t? Me neither.
Why does this publisher want to bestow this glorious journalistic achievement on a supposedly adoring public? According to my pal the Web designer: Just because. Just because they can. Actually, they feel they want to ‘extend their reach’ beyond their local Portland-area readership.
Huh?!? I think I’ve got an idea for extending your reach online. It’s called HTML.
Most print publishers are completely flummoxed by the Web. They realize they need to have a “dot-com” (b/c everybody does, right?), but beyond that, most would rather not think about the Internet. It’s wreaking havoc with their offline product’s business model (and things are only going to get worse as advertising dollars move online), but most respond by sticking their fingers in the crumbling dyke instead of figuring out how to take advantage of the new business opportunities the Web provides.
Right now, most publishers consider the Web to be a place where they shovel content that they previously put out in print. To an extent, I think the reasons are cultural. Many editors and journalists are not technophiles, so getting a newsroom or editorial staff up to speed on the how their businesses can be enhanced through new and innovative online offerings takes time.
As for the Giant PDF, if they do insist on putting this Godzilla-sized monster online (shudder), I hope that at least - for the love of usability, people! - they put the filesize in the link text so I’ll know I’m not supposed to click on it.
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