OK, it's happened again. Some semi-literate bureaucracy has nominally joined the digital age, offering to allow me to fill in some vital info they need "on line", through the convenience of a fill-in pdf form.
Very nice! I download and open in reader, to find it's a no-save form - I'm supposed to fill it in, print it, and mail it in to them.
*sigh*
So I don't get to keep it for my own records (unless I scan it, which I most often do). I then have the pleasure of addressing an envelope, affixing postage, and making sure it gets out to the box.
Then after appropriate latency (YMMV) you all open it, type it into your systems (a known error free process) and then we are exactly where we would have been if you had simply made it a saveable (and readable) file and I had sent it directly back to you. Net difference - about 5 days, 50 cents, and a couple of errors (YMMV).
What is it with these no-save pdf forms? Why not use a format that can be edited and saved, such as .doc, or .odt, or even .txt?
Oh, you need a signature? How about I send you a scan of my signature? That's essentially what you accept when you get a fax. Oh, that's different - I understand, it's lawyer approved (they are the only ones still using faxes). If it's real authentication you want, then you're a long way from it with this silliness.
Oh, you're afraid someone will alter the body of the document? Simple solution: put all your favorite legalese boilerplate in a word doc in the form of a bitmap! The folks who create your website are real good at that kind of thing - page after page of nothing but chopped up bitmaps and flash. After doing that all you need is a statement saying any alteration of the document outside of the user fields renders it void. Heck, even employ a checksum to detect any changes (reference prior mention of proper authentication).
Gah, the stupid, it burns. And Adobe profits.
*pad*
*pad*
*pad* (the sound of binkley headed off to fetch a single malt, neat)
End rant #4 */
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