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The billionaire’s typewriter

practicaltypography.com

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Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#41

Post by soneca »

jarcane wrote: post #7

My favorite writing tool of all time is, without a question in my mind, LyX. It manages to find the perfect balance of minimal barriers to productivity, absolute power when I need it, and seriously professional grade results. It's like writing with iAWriter or similar tools, except I still have some basic structural options in the interface, and the end result generated is downright professional grade. I think the "W…

I am writing a short stories book (as an amateur), I was looking for a better tool than Word (not that I can't write in it, just that I don't feel confortable in it). I followed your passionate comment and I am installing LyX right now, after getting assured that you can also use LyX to create a letter or a novel or a theatre play or film script.

Thanks for the comment

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#42

Post by jamesdelaneyie »

shawnhermans wrote: post #37

In most cases, I disagree with the point the author is trying to make. The author is arguing against the heavy restrictions Medium places on typesetting and layout. As a reader and author, I don't want the author to worry about these types of details. I want them to worry about ideas and storytelling. The only exception I can think of to this rule is for highly visual medium like graphic novels. In this case, typeset…

Good typography and layouts are informed by the ideas and story an author is trying to convey. If we are to say we want an author to care about the communication of their work, they should take an active interest in how that work is presented. The act of writing and the act of designing a text are separate activities but rely on heavy collaboration between the designer and author, even if those two are one in the same – to say that an author should eschew learning how the subtle marks of good typography affect their text is akin to asking a good comedian, musician or performer to ignore how a theatre's production comes together.

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#43

Post by chipotle_coyote »

jccooper wrote: post #36
w1ntermute wrote: post #20

What is the point of inserting a "◊" before each link? It looks ridiculous and distracts from reading the article.

Because it's a web-based book? I've browsed about and haven't seen a clear explanation. (It took a while to figure out what the hell is going on at that site.) Apparently he considers underlining a sin against typography [ http://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html ] as one of the "bad typewriter habits" [ http://practicaltypography.com/typewriter-habits.html ]. That might be why. Which is funny, because one of…

Using the edges of the pages for navigation as the only option would be ridiculous, but it's not; there are conventional navigation links. Think about reading this on a tablet, where a lot of ebook readers have a convention of turning "pages" by touching the left or right side of the screen, and this may make more sense.

Underlining in the typewriter style is a sin against typography. :) I don't like the way Butterick's chosen to do links here, though; the lozenge mark seems kind of twee, like he's choosing to make a stand against both underlining and color changes at the expense of both readability and learned behavior. (Most of us by now associate both underlines and blue inline text, whether in conjunction or separately, with "click this to make something happen.")

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#44

Post by honestcoyote »

Tortoise wrote: post #5
cphuntington97 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just figured my browser wasn't configured properly...weird.

The diamond indicates a link. It's a great convention once you understand it, but it's not at all obvious.

The diamonds are too big. I think this convention could work if the diamonds weren't the height of the line. Maybe at 50% or 30% of the original size. Then it would be obvious but not nearly so distracting.

As it is, it's fairly ugly and breaks the text unpleasantly.

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#45

Post by chipotle_coyote »

shawnhermans wrote: post #37

In most cases, I disagree with the point the author is trying to make. The author is arguing against the heavy restrictions Medium places on typesetting and layout. As a reader and author, I don't want the author to worry about these types of details. I want them to worry about ideas and storytelling. The only exception I can think of to this rule is for highly visual medium like graphic novels. In this case, typeset…

As an author who cares about typography, I don't think these things are mutually exclusive. Butterick's point here is that Medium takes away your choice on the web, where there's very frequently no separation between author and publisher. That separation doesn't exist if you host your own WordPress or Ghost installation, or on Tumblr or WordPress.com -- but it doesn't really exist if you publish on Medium or Svbtle or the like, either. The difference is that with Medium and similar services, you are acting as your own publisher but letting them act as graphic designer.

I understand that a lot of authors don't have the background for this sort of thing, and that LaTeX's basic philosophy here is a good one (i.e., don't screw with the defaults and your paper will look good, and even if you do screw with them you have to put a bit of effort in to start making things look crappy). And Medium will look better than slapping up unstyled HTML.*

But that means neither that you necessarily want everything to look like Medium's default -- which, unlike LaTeX, cannot be changed even a whit by authors -- nor that that your choices are only "write with Medium" and "learn professional typography." It's not difficult to slap up a WordPress or Ghost installation and choose from hundreds of themes, many of which have at least reasonable, if not amazing, typesetting standards.

Lastly, Butterick's point about Medium's business model is certainly worth paying attention to.

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#46

Post by illicium »

jccooper wrote: post #36
w1ntermute wrote: post #20

What is the point of inserting a "◊" before each link? It looks ridiculous and distracts from reading the article.

Because it's a web-based book? I've browsed about and haven't seen a clear explanation. (It took a while to figure out what the hell is going on at that site.) Apparently he considers underlining a sin against typography [ http://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html ] as one of the "bad typewriter habits" [ http://practicaltypography.com/typewriter-habits.html ]. That might be why. Which is funny, because one of…

Not to mention the 24px body type that fits less than two paragraphs per page

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#47

Post by eCa »

jccooper wrote: post #36
w1ntermute wrote: post #20

What is the point of inserting a "◊" before each link? It looks ridiculous and distracts from reading the article.

Because it's a web-based book? I've browsed about and haven't seen a clear explanation. (It took a while to figure out what the hell is going on at that site.) Apparently he considers underlining a sin against typography [ http://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html ] as one of the "bad typewriter habits" [ http://practicaltypography.com/typewriter-habits.html ]. That might be why. Which is funny, because one of…

> Apparently he considers underlining a sin against typography

But only as a way to add emphasis. The last point of the page[1] implies that he is ok with underlining links.

[1] http://practicaltypography.com/underlining.html

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#48

Post by gkop »

Assume for a moment that the value proposition of Medium to the writers boils down to convenient and beautiful design, and Medium writers simply make the choice that this value is worth their giving their content away for free.

What about the risk of association between their writing and the Medium brand detracting from the writers' impact?

Even if it's just a small percentage of potential visitors for whom Medium is an anti-signal, why risk it?

I guess the Medium network may bring in more readers than the Medium brand bounces. Does anyone have information about what quantity and quality of readership the Medium network offers to an individual article or author?

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#49

Post by Terr_ »

arh68 wrote: post #29

What is writing? Is it getting all the words down before you forget your point? Or is it polishing and formatting your content to appeal to the readers? It's easy to throw the term around, brand your software for writers , the best writing tool , etc. I can't say I agree 100% with either author. On the one hand, Wichary shows some 'gorgeous' LaserDisc snippet and lauds it as some return to the good old pre-typewriter…

It's amusing that--speaking of typography on the web--disabling the download of fonts fails so gracelessly that I'm seeing this in your post:

    The goal is to cre the il that every on Medium be-long 
    to one ed ecosys, as if it's the New York Times.
Apprently I need some "DejaVu Sans Mono".

Re: The billionaire’s typewriter

#50

Post by shiftpgdn »

ghshephard wrote: post #14

Is it just my MacBook Air + OS X, or is the Font (ironically) on that site painful to read? Compare: https://medium.com/@willgossin/the-uncanny-valley-race-merit... To: http://practicaltypography.com/billionaires-typewriter.html [Edit: Also - no HTTPS? And No Favicon?]

Uhg yes. I couldn't even finish the article because the site was so difficult to get through.
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