On Reading & Writing
June 6, 2011Even in the middle of a decent article, you're often bombarded with ads.1 I was on Gizmodo today, reading up on the keynote to the new Mac OS X Lion, and I can't believe all the things that vie for your attention. And they're not all ads -- they're just random links sprinkled throughout the live update -- but the feeling remains the same: clutter.
The writing experience is no better. Regardless of which platform one chooses to write in, there's no shortage of UI clutter.2 The intention is good, of course -- the idea is to help the user get his job done, which is, to write. But so often, I find myself getting distracted -- I would type up a few sentences, then go back and bold/italicize/hyperlink words here and there, etc. I find myself not finishing as quickly as I would like to, least of all to say, there is no joy in this writing experience.
In a future article, I might expound a bit more about the writing experience -- how I plan to solve (or go around) that particular clutterfest. But, for now, at least I can offer a solution to the reading experience. With this site, I will offer my best in providing the best reading experience. Minimalistic design. Zero ads. No unnecessary superlatives and adjectives. No clutter.
- I'm looking at you, New York Times.
- This is especially true with WYSIWYG platforms, like Microsoft Word or even Wordpress.