I like having IBM manuals be readable in electronic form. Personally, I prefer using the Web and BookManager format over PDF. But I cannot easily download those and view them offline. On the other hand, the PDF manuals are a royal PITA to me, except on my Kindle DX. Which is why I have a Kindle DX. They are a PITA because PDFs are formatted as a portrait mode, letter (or maybe A4) sized page. And since many of the manuals are two column, that means paging up and down while switching sides to read. The problem with the BookManager format, in addition to the "not offline", is that I sometimes cannot read the diagrams. They aren't formatted correctly.
Now, one of my favorite magazines has gone "digital only". I have an Android app on my Xoom tablet which displays their magazine like a regular magazine - letter sized portrait. HOWEVER, they also have .mobi and .epub formats for reading on cell phones and other devices. I am wondering how difficult it would be for IBM to publish their manuals in .mobi or .epub format. This would make them much more readable on cell phones or other media such a the newer Kindles or Nook ebook reader. It would even help on netbooks, laptops, and desktop as it wouldn't force the letter sized pages onto a device which cannot render them nicely. Just a thought. -- John McKown Maranatha! <>< ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
