[simonw]

You mean this? https://openaipublic.blob.core.windows.net/neuron-explainer/...

Would you prefer a PDF?

(I'm always fascinated to hear from people who would rather read a PDF than a web-native paper like this one, especially given that web papers are actually readable on mobile devices. Do you do all of your reading on a laptop?)

[superkuh]

With a pdf I don't have to update my PDF reader multiple times per month just to be able to read text.

A PDF is a text document that includes all the text, images, etc within it in the state you are going to perceive them. That web page is just barely even a document. None of it's contents are natively within it, it all requires executing remote code which pulls down more remote code to run just to get the actual text and images to display... which they don't in my browser. I just see an index with links that don't work and the the "Contributions" which for some reason was actually included as text.

Even as the web goes up it's own asshole in terms of recursive serial loading of javascript/json/whatever from unrelated domains and abandons all backwards compatibility, PDF, as a document, remains readable. I wish the web was still hyperlinked documents. The "application" web sucks for accessibility.

[probably_wrong]

The equations look terrible on Firefox for Android, as they are really small - a two-line fraction is barely taller than a single line, forcing me to constantly zoom in and out.

So yes, I would prefer a PDF and have a guarantee that it will look the same no matter where I read it.

[hexomancer]

> Would you prefer a PDF?

Yes, I was just reading the paper and some of the javascript glitched and deleted all the contents of the document except the last section, making me lose all context and focus. Doesn't really happen with PDF files.

[nerpderp82]

> always fascinated

That feels like a loaded phrase. Is it "false confusion" adjacent?

[cschmid]

My whole workflow of organizing and reading papers is centered on PDFs. While I like having interactive supplemental materials, I want to be able to print, save and annotate the papers I read.

[whimsicalism]

If you want to draw on it, PDF is usually the best

[bad_alloc]

Nope, reading the printed paper on... paper. :)

[kkylin]

I personally prefer reading PDF on an iPad so I can mark it up.