lamaster@pioneer.arc.nasa.gov (Hugh LaMaster) (06/08/91)
I just received my June CACM. I thought I would comment while my blood is still simmering. I continue to find the magazine extremely hard to read. The fonts are the same as before, and the layout is about the same. Bright background colors on some pages and heavy type on others creates the usual strain. In addition, there is a new twist: the illustrations are now labeled with the illustrator's name, but the name appears on the side of the page, alongside unrelated type. See pages 19 & 25. This is extremely distracting. I don't know how they can keep coming up with so many new ideas for cute little distracting things. I have never had so much trouble reading a magazine or technical journal before. But, for a real laugh, look at the Soviet Computing/Project Start articles. In addition to the now commonplace type-on-background-art, and broken up columns, we have: An internal cover sheet, in the middle of *each* article, which is almost all solid red, with a small "Soviet Computing" logo. A solid page of Red? I guess CACM must have a lot of extra pages to burn. The obligatory multiple use of "paradigm" in the MARS article - I wonder what "paradigm" is in Russian? The use of "fractal" to describe the structure of a modular computing system. And, two whole columns devoted to internal "headlines". How about this one: "We have found that there is a lot of freedom of the creative design inside the MARS philosophy frame." This being an important, deep, statement, a whole column was devoted to it, in bright red type, and it looks like this: We have found that there is a lot of freedom of the creative design inside the MARS philosophy frame. For some reason, the following came to me: It reminds me of the Woody Allen movie "Sleeper" in which a poem was deeper than McKuen. The subsequent articles are similar. In one, the red column typeface is replaced by a black 3-D type which is too closely spaced, which gives the appearance of being smudged in printing. I certainly am missing the point on the new look of CACM. Please note that some of the articles are interesting. I am not attempting to review their content at this time. I am contributing this review in hopes ACM will stop trying so hard to be cute, to the detriment of the magazine's readability. -- Hugh LaMaster, M/S 233-9, UUCP: ames!lamaster NASA Ames Research Center Internet: lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov Moffett Field, CA 94035 With Good Mailer: lamaster@george.arc.nasa.gov Phone: 415/604-1056 #include <std.disclaimer>