For accessibility reasons, arXiv is starting to publish HTML versions of papers. https://info.arxiv.org/about/accessibility_html_papers.html 🧵
#math #papers #openscience #academia #arXiv
@brembs
@lambo
I think this is interesting and welcome, especially on mobile devices. It is not without problems to want to quickly check some fact on your phone, download the PDF, go to landscape mode, find the right location in the paper, zoom in, etc.
1/4
The promise would be that in HTML, everything is reformatted to look great on any line length.
But there is a kind of integration attack going on: Once we have the HTML version, why not enhance the paper with things PDF can't do? After all, HTML5 offers limitless possibilities to make the 3D figures interactive, run simulations, have the examples to be toys you can play with, etc.
Once these seemingly harmless new features are there, who would want to go back to the PDF version, which is a
2/4
static, cumbersome and arcane? Once we are there, we will definitely need versioning of publications because if papers become software, they will have bugs and need bug fixes.
I feel very insecure about this future. I am unhappy with how static and old-fashioned it is of us, to stick to this A4-PDF-paper format, for documents which are consumed on laptop and iPhone screens, and it never really fits and scrolling and zooming and whatnot.
3/4
Thomas Kahle
InsertUser