Near Print & Beyond Paper

Summaries
- The PDF (Portable Document Format) represents a collision of old media and new media, as it provides "page images" that resemble printed text from a book, with the same format, just easily transferable in an online setting. PDFs appeal to the fixity of print

- PDFs have become extremely commonplace among various settings, particularly in the workplace because of the uniformity, accessibility, and the simplicity, considering the other materials such as paper, ink, etc. that are therefore avoided. The format became exceedingly desirable within the context of personal computing in the 1980s.

- Beyond Paper: The Official Guide to Adobe Acrobat was published in 1993 by Patrick Ames, that elaborated on all of the "problems" that were to be solved with Adobe Acrobat and the transition from paper to PDF. It insinuated that secretaries were no longer needed, and that paper, copiers, fax machines, as well as labor costs would be reduced but not replaced. Although there have been many positives to the introduction of PDFs, there are various shortcomings that people find, such as the inability to edit the text, proving that PDF encourage "reading without writing" and the format can be very jarring.

Comment:
Seeing as I'm not a big fan of PDF, I thought this was an interesting article. I prefer texts that I can annotate and search and actually feel like I'm connected to, whereas PDFs, at least to me, give off a very rigid feeling. I can appreciate however the fact that PDFs are essentially available to a wide range of people, in regards to different formats and such, but I don't think a "paperless" office could ever truly function.

Question:
What are some of the limitations associated with PDFs as a form of textual production and how might that affect future textual forms to come? Will PDFs actually be able to completely replace paper, and if so what modifications would need to be considered?