At 12:23 +0000 1998/11/27, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:
>Hans Aberg writes:
> > Using raw TeX (with macros) is of course what many pure mathematicians did
>                                                      ^^^^
>presumbly the applied ones are lesser mortals?

Strictly speaking, the distinction between pure and applied mathematics is
an older one increasingly less usable today.

But pure mathematics is really the most complicated form, both graphically
and logically, so that is why one tends to return to it.

> > Whereas the low computer screen resolution of today is a problem, it is
>
>its amazing how the tens of millions of Web users out there happily
>use this inferior technology, isn't it. of course, many are not 20th
>century mathematicians...
>
>if you want a document to read on the screen, why not design for the
>screen? of course, if you work towards an A4 page with 1 inch margins
>and 10 pt Computer Modern math, and display it in PDF with the full
>page, it looks like a set of bird tracks.

You put in this word "happily" here again: I myself try to avoid printing
out the (PS, DVI, PDF) documents I need to read because I do not know were
to store them, but I do not think the words "happily" is correct here,
since it is clearly cumbersome to read it on screen:

Experimenting with laserprinting showed that 300 dpi is too low for
displaying fonts correctly, so one needs at least 600 dpi for that. But to
be on the sure side, laser probably want 1200 dpi.

So, before that happens, it will not be possible to design documents to be
read on the screen if that is to contain the (graphical) information we are
used to on paper.

  Hans Aberg
                  * Email: Hans Aberg <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
                  * Home Page: <http://www.matematik.su.se/~haberg/>
                  * AMS member listing: <http://www.ams.org/cml/>