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Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

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Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#231

Post by dredmorbius »

dredmorbius wrote: post #144
hotpotamus wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I vaguely remember something about there being a difference on printed paper vs screens when it comes to serifs. But also, aren't most aircraft controls labeled in something like Futura? I believe the Apollo program and other aerospace studies decided that was the most legible.

Lower-dpi screens, including the traditional ~96 dpi of classic monitors, makes serif-fonts less clear. High-definition screens (such as the iMac retina display I'm looking at presently) and many e-ink devices hit 200+ dpi (200--300 is not uncommon for e-ink), which is the starting point for many laserprinters, though those can go to 600--1200 dpi. Monchrome vs. colour will show some distinction in clarity (monochrom…

The thought does occur:

Given that Calibri is Microsoft Office's default font ...

... and that Mobile has vastly overtaken Desktop in number of devices (by roughly an order of magnitude) ...

... then it may well be that both Microsoft and the State Department are optimising for reading on mobile. Which could be defensible, I suppose.

Though a far better practice would be to adopt a flexible document standard (say, ePub or HTML, though they're of course not unrelated), which will then adapt to appropriate media characterstics and, say, display in a sans font on small mobile devices and serif in print or large, high-def devices and displays.

(Note that "large" and "high definition" are not necessarily identical: a projection display is large but often not especially high definition. Likewise public signage and the like.)

Edit: As this 2012 NNGroup (Jakob Nielsen) suggests: in "Serif vs. Sans-Serif Fonts for HD Screens". Though the piece notes that with high-definition displays of 200 dpi and above reasons to avoid serif-based fonts are mooted, there's still no clear argument for them either:

Almost all mainstream printed newspapers, magazines, and books use serif type, and thus people are more accustomed to reading long texts in this style. However, given the research data, the difference in reading speed between serif and sans serif is apparently quite small. Thus, there's no strong usability guideline in favor of using one or the other, so you can make the choice based on other considerations — such as branding or the mood communicated by a particular typographical style.

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/serif-vs-sans-serif-fonts-h...>

(I note that as a strong fan of serif-based fonts for long-form works myself.)

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#233

Post by dredmorbius »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #26
okamiueru wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would hope someone who don't know the context or effect of a choice they are making, at the least consults with someone who does? This isn't rocket science to get right.

Font licensing is an incredibly niche thing to be aware of. I'm highly confident the people involved in this decision simply saw that Calibri was the default font in Microsoft Office and didn't think twice about the availability of it. Perhaps someone farther down the chain of command raised a concern about licensing, but I doubt such a concern would make its way back up the chain. It seems like something only lower…

It could also be that Microsoft are acknowledging the dominance of mobile devices and that they, as well as State, are optimising for reading on mobile rather than desktop or printed output.

This is amongst the few defensible rationales I can conceive of. The OCR argument offered in the Birdsite thread seems ... weak at best.

(As I've noted in another comment.)

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#234

Post by AnnualDegree99 »

lofatdairy wrote: post #217
Perceval wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dyslexia associations have recommended Comic Sans as a font that allows for easier reading comprehension. Experts say that opposition to Comic Sans is ableist: https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/the-reason-comic-sans-is-a-pu... I, for one, think all State Dept cables should henceforth be transmitted in Comic Sans, so as to provide maximum accessibility.

While I really hope the claim that hating on Comic Sans being ableist is facetious, I do kinda like the font, and use Fantasque Sans[^1] in my terminal. [^1]: https://github.com/belluzj/fantasque-sans

I use Comic Mono and Comic Sans as my system monospace and regular fonts, respectively. If nothing else, it makes reading LinkedIn a lot more fun. And to be quite honest it's nice to read in general.

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#235

Post by ThePowerOfFuet »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #178
ceejayoz wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. Every time I have to renew my Australian passport I have to buy a ream of A4 paper. Every time I forget where last time's ream was stored. I suspect someday I'll find thousands of sheets somewhere lost in my basement.

Sounds like a PC LOAD LETTER issue.

PC LOAD A4, you mean.

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#236

Post by iggldiggl »

rebolek wrote: post #230
FooBarWidget wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Displays are no longer low-resolution.

Buy a cheap Android phone.

Or don't use a Mac (https://data.firefox.com/dashboard/hardware#graphics-metric-...).

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#237

Post by anthk »

atonse wrote: post #160
LarryMullins wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> metric [...] morally evil I've never heard an American complain that Coca Cola is sold by the liter. There's no moral component to Americans not wanting to switch to metric. It's simply a matter of the switch and retooling being more hassle than continuing to use American customary units. Frankly, the difference seems to bother Europeans a lot more than it bothers Americans.

Same observation here. We (Americans) just don’t care. Not like we’re sitting here huffing and puffing about metric. Nobody. Cares. At the end of the day, the one you’re used to is the one that makes more sense. There is no system that is objectively better “in all situations.” Most people that strongly argue that one is better than the other are usually just saying “it’s better cuz I’m used to it”

Metric is easier. How does the humanity count? By using powers of 10. The usability it's right there. Just keep adding zeros.

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#238

Post by anthk »

lucumo wrote: post #139
garbagecoder wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assert it will be incrementally better without offsetting for the externalities of the switch, which would take decades. Also the metric system is European in origin. Despite what chapter 0 of every science book implies god did not invent it.

> Also the metric system is European in origin. As is quite a lot of American culture. Lots of good European ideas got improved on by America. Do one more ;-)

America would be better with just three little improvements:

- Celsius temperatures near any Fahrenheit article/post/news.

- The metric system. Just scale up and down by ten. You already do it with dollars. So consider it done.

- ISO 6801 dates. Year, month, day. Things scale down logically. Years are composed of months; and months, of days. Also, they would be no ambiguity issues.

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#239

Post by PcChip »

vorpalhex wrote: post #119
ethbr0 wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deep within your subconscious memories is a series of you unloading A4 from your printer, thinking about where to best store it, finding 20 reams already there, stacking this one on top, and then promptly forgetting the location.

"I don't put things where I think they should go, I put them where I am likely to look for them" - Adam Savage

I've been following this since I heard him say it a few years ago, and I try to impress this upon my family as well

Re: Times New Roman is being phased out at the State Department, replaced by Calibri

#240

Post by dahfizz »

gfv wrote: post #223
dahfizz wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often do you need to scale up or down a printed document? I don't see how that is useful.

You may want to print multiple pages per sheet.

By hand? Surely it would be faster to click a button in your word processor, which supports letter paper.
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