Comments on: Times Reader AIR application from The New York Times

By: It’s hot, open up a little bit! : Mihai CORLAN

It’s hot, open up a little bit! : Mihai CORLAN — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:49:15 +0000

[...] let me give you two hints. First, take a look at how the layout and text is managed in the Times Reader AIR application (don’t forget to try the print option for any article; I double dare you to get [...]

By: Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:38:14 +0000

The new Times Reader does not use subpixel antialiasing, either on Vista or OSX. That makes its fonts look blurry to me. Whether or not you like Subpixel AA, both MS and Apple have chosen to use it, so the Times Reader looks out of place. I have seen a few Air apps that use subpixel AA, so I know it is possible, but most of them seem not to. What’s up with this?

By: Mihai Corlan

Mihai Corlan — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:16:13 +0000

@Deepanjan

I think you are biased. I couldn’t do any comparison between the WPF and AIR version, because, well I am using a MacBook. On my MacBook the AIR application uses less 3% of the CPU and about 70MB of Memory (Private Memory Size). Adding to this that you can have the application installed on any OS (Win, Mac OS, Linux) I think it is great.

At the same time I don’t understand exactly why are you saying that you this application doesn’t offer enough space for reading. You can resize the app to use all the screen resolution, you can hide the left navigation bar (in this case you have the article, the title bar, and the bottom bar to control the navigation, printing, and font size). Another feature that this app has is the crossword. You can play with it directly from the app, no need to launch another a separate application.

Here are some thoughts from a guy who develops applications using Microsoft technologies: http://www.lorenheiny.com/2009/05/08/new-york-times-reader-dumps-wpf-for-air/

And finally let’s don’t start a flame. I respect your feedback, even if I don’t agree with you.

By: Twitted by thetudor

Twitted by thetudor — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:55:47 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by thetudor – Real-url.org [...]

By: Shimju David

Shimju David — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:52:55 +0000

@Deepanjan, totally disagree with you- this is a wonderful piece of AIR App. It provides very clean and easy for the eyes, very nice to read along.

Congrats NY Times team.

By: Deepanjan Nag

Deepanjan Nag — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:37:08 +0000

Here’s my feedback to NYTimes:

The new Times Reader 2.0 is a DISASTER. On a Windows machine, have you ever done a juxtaposed comparison of the old and new Reader?

The new Reader isn’t remotely as legible. WPF beats ADOBE Air hollow. Since you’re in the news business, this surely shouldn’t be news to you.
The new Reader takes more time for news updates.
The new Reader takes far more memory. ADOBE Air applications are always bloated.
The new Reader has less reading space.
The new Reader bombards me with extremely annoying internal ads. and ads. by Google. When I’m paying you, I’m expecting you to remove the noise factor. You were…until now.
There’s no doubt in my mind that TR 2.0 is a regressive step. The only good thing about the new Reader is that it supports video.

I know these are desperate times for newspapers, but is the New York Times this desperate? It’s understandable that NYTimes is looking to broaden its reader base by making Times Reader more platform agnostic. However, as far as Windows readers are concerned, the new Reader is undeniably a raw deal. Maybe you could keep the old version available for Windows readers.

What worries me the most is the poor legibility of the new Reader. Even the browser makes for easier reading. Frankly speaking, I’ve made up my mind to unsubscribe when my current subscription expires next year. Using FeedDemon to subscribe to the free RSS feeds makes better sense. Wouldn’t you agree?

Regards,
Deepanjan Nag