Ask HN: What's the hardest part about reading articles online?
4•kokorikooo•6mo ago
I find it really boring to read article online but still once I come across one article I like I feel satisfied. Do you also have this problem, what's the hardest part about reading article online for you?
Comments
curious_curios•6mo ago
- Ads
- Paywalls
- Subscribe pop-ups
- Obvious AI slop
- Dead links
- Information already out of date
fuzzfactor•6mo ago
All of the above.
Most articles I want to read have quite a bit of text that I'm going to be wanting to see.
Anything less and you wouldn't have the complete information.
This can amount to many kilobytes, even a megabyte or more.
It's still supposed to be an "information superhighway" so anything that's more massive or takes longer to load than the desired text (such as graphics) has always been clearly due for scrutiny whether or not they are an essential part of the article or not. Too many people just don't remember or are incapable of caring. This can make it harder than it needs to be from the get-go.
So the thing that's the hardest now is really no different than it was under dial-up, that's the lack of progress which is yet to be overcome.
Whenever an article has more kilobytes devoted to things other than the desirable text & supporting content itself, it continues to suck in the same way they did in the 1990's.
Except slower now with over 10x the processor speed and RAM, even under broadband.
thinkingemote•6mo ago
Hardest currently is reading AI assisted articles. Not slop, but good, assisted, even useful ones. The formatting, cadence, word choice, the bullet points, the lists, the use of that long dash. It's a smell and a pattern that is recognised. Its not human
What I like is story or witness or testimony. A person's own story about themselves where the topic is brought in and made relevant towards that. It's human.
pmdulaney•6mo ago
Hardest for me is to not be able to scroll with j and k à la vim.
curious_curios•6mo ago
- Paywalls
- Subscribe pop-ups
- Obvious AI slop
- Dead links
- Information already out of date
fuzzfactor•6mo ago
Most articles I want to read have quite a bit of text that I'm going to be wanting to see.
Anything less and you wouldn't have the complete information.
This can amount to many kilobytes, even a megabyte or more.
It's still supposed to be an "information superhighway" so anything that's more massive or takes longer to load than the desired text (such as graphics) has always been clearly due for scrutiny whether or not they are an essential part of the article or not. Too many people just don't remember or are incapable of caring. This can make it harder than it needs to be from the get-go.
So the thing that's the hardest now is really no different than it was under dial-up, that's the lack of progress which is yet to be overcome.
Whenever an article has more kilobytes devoted to things other than the desirable text & supporting content itself, it continues to suck in the same way they did in the 1990's.
Except slower now with over 10x the processor speed and RAM, even under broadband.