[KLUG Members] pdf v document attachments

[Adam Tauno Williams]

>>> At a recent KLUG meeting someone noted that in business people don't
>>> send email attachments as word processing documents but rather almost
>>> always use pdf's.
>> That was, in part, me.
>I wish my experience were so.  I have to deal with multiple formats - 
>doc, rtf, xls, pdf, tif  etc.  For small customers and vendors that is 
>understandable.  

Sure,  an organizarion with less than 50 users that has anything resembling 
a network policy about anything is pretty darn rare.

 As for vendors, I just got a 
>container quote in my mailbox as an xls -  that from one of the largest 
>logistics providers around!

I consider spreadsheets as a seperate case,  they are not documents in the 
same sense.  I get and send xls files all the time,  a different set of 
constraints apply.   A document (word processor or presentation) is 
information,  a spreadsheet (a price list for example) is data.

>>> If this is correct, it raised a number of questions for me, as the
>>> experience in academia seems different. 
>> No surprise there,  I think (and my admittadly limited experience 
>> supports) that what is
>> really at play mostly in academia is a lack of systematic processes as 
>> well
>> as even crappiwr user training than in a corporate environment.
>This I agree with . . .  but I think there is also a problem in the 
>business community that there is not a standard document format. 

Yes there is - PDF.  Beyond that I don't expect there to be a "standard" 
format for some time.  The technology in question here is not yet mature.

>addition, even though a company might have a standard, the buyer might 
>not be trained to use it 

What training is required to OPEN an e-mail attachment.

>and as a vendor I can not piss off the buyer 
>by saying I can not read his purchase order.  So, the lack of standards 
>and processes continues.


Sure,  but this is a special case.  And continued gentle persuasion has 
proved effective for me.  My job used to entail processing of vendor price 
lists.

>It is only a question if they use the network printer or are lazy and 
>send the document out in whatever format they learned when they first 
>started - probably why I deal with so many different document formats.

Right,  but this goes back to policies and training - it isn't a technology 
question but one about poorly managed organizations.