Ask HN: Why is WolframAlpha serving rendered text images instead of plain text?

Re:Ask HN: Why is WolframAlpha serving rendered text images ... by wmoxam on Sunday May 17, 2009 @01:12AM (#612993)

We actually do the same for math equations in LearnHub lessons (via texhub.com). Images are pretty much the only way to present complex math equations to a wide audience.

MathML would be a much better solution only if it were natively supported in IE.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is WolframAlpha serving rendered text images ... by PaulTopping on Monday May 18, 2009 @12:39AM (#614382)

Our free MathPlayer plugin for IE enables it to display MathML. Except for having to be installed, it is as "native" as it can get. It even works with screen readers to speak the math for those that need that. See http://www.dessci.com/mathplayer.

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Re:Ask HN: Why is WolframAlpha serving rendered text images ... by wmoxam on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @12:16AM (#616233)

Thanks Paul. I'm aware of Math Player, but I don't like the tradeoff of forcing our users to install a plugin for superior display quality/customizability vs. "it just works". The nature of our user base just doesn't make it feasible IMO.

I would be more willing to take that tradeoff in a LCMS environment though.

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