TechCrunch has recently highlighted two different platforms that enables you to upload documents (in a variety of formats) and have them viewable from the Internet. All that is needed from the viewer is an Internet connection and Flash; if you don't have Flash installed while trying to view either of the presented documents, you'll be guided to a site where you can download and install this for free.

The point being that not everybody wants to have to download files to view and print them, or have to deal with the peskiness of PDF, MS Word or any other blighted format. With the use of an online viewer, one can easily read documents through the web and with the help of tools like Google Gears, I'm sure we'll see a lot of offline support for these files in the future.

But for now, two interesting competitors have stepped up to the plate: Scribd and Issuu. It is worthy to mention Buzzword, formerly known as Virtual Ubiquity, that Adobe has bought and still keep under beta-wraps; the bizarre thing is that it hasn't really matured much since Adobe's buying it, which makes it feel like another Google/Dodgeball-experience. Despite having beta access, I can't log into the system half of the time as the site says "TypeError" as I try to type my e-mail address. Drab. On to the real contenders!

Instead of writing about the differences and the pros vs cons between, I've mangled The Queen's English and put together a near-6-minute long screencast where I show and speak some about the different systems. It's right above this paragraph. Below you'll find a PDF-file that I've embedded through Issuu and Scribd, respectively, for your enjoyment. Have fun.

Issuu

Scribd

Read this doc on Scribd: John Peel Biography