Burning a NeXT Cube

by e1ven • 17 years ago

33 14 17 years ago

zandorg• 17 years ago

It's wierd, I read long articles like this, and think "This is more readable than modern webpages" even though it's a HUGE article. Is it possible people aren't writing as well as in 1993?

I'm guilty too - I used to write 20,000 word web-based articles in 1997 which my friends read without saying "It's too long!". Now I can barely write a blog entry (although I can write long emails).

marbletiles• 17 years ago

A clean page with no distractions or links always snaps me into "reading" mode. It's why I like Instapaper and Readable so much.

unalone2• 17 years ago

It's because people are so goddamn awful at design.

There's so much bullshit in the average design calculated to leech a few more clicks out of people. Archive trees on the side, tag clouds, lots and lots of numbers calculating I-don't-give-a-fuck, share buttons. People stick colors and borders where colors and borders have no reason being. On top of that, people have no clue how to make readable typography. None. I'm shocked at how many people go along with ugly text without once learning to make it attractive. Good designers, too, that just never thought to look at making their text fit into their page.

When you have ugly layouts, people won't tolerate reading as much, and you learn that your "best" writing is much shorter. There're some exceptions. I don't think it's surprising that the best longform writers I know all have very attractive-looking longform designs. Certainly that's what I put effort into this week, designing my new portfolio.

pronoiac• 17 years ago

See also, Merlin Mann's "noise-to-noise" ratio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/merlin/sets/72157622077100537/d...

rw• 17 years ago

The author was a professional journalist.

Tichy• 17 years ago

Makes me want to burn an iPhone.

nym• 17 years ago

Unfortunately, the iPhone isn't made from cast magnesium. It wouldn't burn nearly as well.

cvg• 17 years ago

That's awesome. Next time I go camping I'll bring some flint and a bit of NeXT Cube.

tesseract• 17 years ago

http://www.amazon.com/Coghlans-7870-Magnesium-Fire-Starter/d...

HendrikR• 17 years ago

Interestingly they say that they posted the pictures to Flickr which appears to be Picasa after all.

sriramk• 17 years ago

This is absolutely brilliant writing. Great use of dialogue, 'showing' rather than 'telling', painting good pictures of the various characters involved (Burt, 'jolly' director),etc.

VonGuard• 17 years ago

Ah, yes. Magnesium. Also means NeXT cubes are great for starting a thermite bomb.

rbanffy• 17 years ago

That makes me sad. It's a significant piece of computing history that should be preserved.

If, for nothing else, to prevent future computer makers from using cast magnesium in their cases.

Burning a NeXT Cube

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