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Can you cite the many usability studies that state Web users go to great lengths to avoid PDF documents? I myself don't mind viewing PDFs.

How does this particular application improve on Adobe's reader? I view PDFs in my Web browser window already. Does this application provide more features? Is it more versatile?
 

Great questions and good reminder that one size doesn't fit all.

First off, in response to your question about sources of studies that show that users find links to PDFs annoying. I was actually referring to internal unpublished studies where I was the facilitator testing web sites and Intranets as well as spontaneous remarks made by participants in during workshops demos of usability testing techniques. Users were vocal in expressing their frustration with PDFs and preference for HTML pages. I don't have citations for those.

Not all users dislike PDFs but a good number do. Here's two example that point to users' dislike of PDFs. 1. Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, July 14, 2003: PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption has some great quotes from users: "It's a pain that I have to download each PDF. Pain in the ass… I find it to be annoying. It's slow to load." 2. California State University includes a note about linking to PDFs (and other formats) without letting users know in their guidelines, www-admn.csun.edu/systech/web/CSU_Web_Guidelines.doc

I'd also love to have my hands on Google's data for how many people choose to click the View as HTML when a search result links to the PDF document. It's one of my favourite features but yes I'm one of those PDF avoiders.

Whether Scribd is an improvement or not depends on whether you dislike PDFs in the first place or if you happen to be able to peer inside the package without clicking to open it. It also depends how you have Adobe setup - as a plugin or to load a separate application. Speed of your conenction and your desktop could also impact the experience.

Your mileage may vary with Scribd depending on lots of factors.

Personally I like the ability to peek inside the PDF and have it there embedded in the browser. It still has same navigational issues that other PDF's have for the most part but I'm just one click from plain text version for quick scanning.