8 ms·
The $0.006 Object in a Sushi Container
- drefanzor 8y agoI always wondered about why that was put there, and considered it a waste; now I know otherwise. Good information here, thanks.
- hgq 8y agoI hope this crap of having drawings instead of actual text never catches on.
- bahador 8y agoThe author is an artist/illustrator. That is her medium. http://wendymacnaughton.com/ http://wendymacnaughton.com/
- hgq 8y agoWhen I click in a newspaper link I expect to read text, not infantile drawings.
- dpark 8y agoYou may not like it (I don't either), but calling professional illustrations "infantile" is somewhat absurd.
- zython 8y agoHow's that infantile ? As far as I can see all the people are more or less drawn anatomically correct and IMO it looks good. Have you ever seen something drawn by an infant ?
- Retra 8y agoThe criticism is not because it is "by" an infant, but "for" an infant.
- code_duck 8y agoI’m skeptical that that is actually the intended audience, though
- Retra 8y agoObviously not. And it's not a fair criticism either way, but that is the criticism. Nobody is accusing the author of drawing like an infant.
- code_duck 8y agoInfantile might be a bit of an exaggeration. Juvenile, perhaps?
- Retra 8y agoWell I'd say neither of those things. The gulf between a child and an adult is really not that wide when it comes to matters such as taste and reasoning ability.
- code_duck 8y agoReally, so there’s not much difference between infants and adults when it comes to taste and reasoning ability. That’s an unusual assertion.
- drusepth 8y agoI would imagine the OP you're responding to was referring to the "drawings" of text, which look straight out of one of those kindergarten "write this letter 100 times to practice it" books. The people/illustrations are pretty good, and wouldn't be out of the ordinary accompanying regular text.
- dpark 8y ago> I would imagine the OP you're responding to was referring to the "drawings" of text, which look straight out of one of those kindergarten "write this letter 100 times to practice it" books. This would make a lot more sense if this was at all what kindergarten handwriting looks like.
- mturmon 8y agoI wonder if Christoph Niemann's beautiful drawings could change your mind: https://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/yet-another-brand-new-me/ https://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/02/yet-another-bra...
- mlindner 8y agoAn artist and illustrator can use fonts or create their own.
- basil-rash 8y agoI don't think we should tell artists what they can/can't do, but I do think it would be reasonable for the New York Times to enforce that all content they host is made as accessible as reasonably possible, for some definition of that. This could be made much more accessible by just including appropriate captions, and doing so would benefit a large part of the community.
- nkrisc 8y agoThen I would suggest she work on her penmanship. I found it very difficult to read.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- snazz 8y agoI agree that it’s annoying for a longform article or something like documentation, but with the drawings on the sides I think it works fine for this application.
- legohead 8y agoDon't tell The Oatmeal!
- Forbo 8y agoIf they provided caption text so it wasn't as accessibility hostile then it might be somewhat excusable. As it was, trying to read the handwriting was definitely annoying.
- ryanmcbride 8y agoI don't have an issue with the format itself, but you're absolutely right that it's an accessibility nightmare. The worst part is that it's so easy for it not to be. I thought maybe since there's no descriptive text alongside images, that there was probably something in the alt tags. However, the alt tags for each image are just empty quotes. For all intents and purposes this is just a blank page for anyone using a screen reader. Hey everyone, use descriptive alt tags for your images. It takes 10 seconds and makes a big difference.
- pvaldes 8y agoShort question, Short answer with nice drawings as a bonus. Perfect and logical way to send the message and a lot of time saved for the reader. There is not need to rewrite "the brothers Karamazov ate on a sushi restaurant" for such simple question.
- btashton 8y agoI actually really enjoyed it as a short illustrated story. If this was written as a formal NTY article, it would have been five sentences and not particularly memorable.
- darkpuma 8y ago>"If this was written as a formal NTY article, it would have been five sentences and not particularly memorable." Maybe an attempt should have been made to do the story justice then. Discuss where these plastic things came from, who got the idea and when? How did their use spread? And the story doesn't even contain any hint of environmental criticism. It's an incredibly weak article, and you can tell the editors knew that because of the vague headline they created for it, meant to make people curious. If the headline said "The $0.006 'Plastic Grass' in Your Sushi Container Is Doing an Important Job" far fewer people would have clicked on the article because 'it keeps food separate' is self-evident to anybody who's ever seen it. Better yet would be "The $0.006 'Plastic Grass' in Your Sushi Container Is For Keeping Food Separate." The brief digression into the original bamboo leaf form was slightly interesting, but this article should have gone much deeper to justify itself.
- civilian 8y ago"traditional health benefits" means "bullshit health benefits", right?
- ryanmcbride 8y agoyes
- btashton 8y agoNormally I would agree, but I think they were referring to "bamboo kun" which is how the bamboo plant fights off fungi and was thought to provide some antimicrobial properties, although at least in textiles seems to be ineffective [0] [0] https://bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/BioRes_08/BioRes_08_4_6501_Xi_Qin_Antibacterial_Perform_Natural_Bamboo_Fiber_4310.pdf https://bioresources.cnr.ncsu.edu/BioRes_08/BioRes_08_4_6501...
- darkpuma 8y agoIf your sushi is sitting around long enough to start molding, you've got some logistics issues to resolve.
- civilian 8y agodarkpuma already expressed the general idea but yeah--- if one piece of food has a bacterial/fungal presence, then having anti-microbial properties for the flavor-divider is a not that big of a plus.
- darkpuma 8y agoWhen did the venerable New York Times turn into a comic book? Anyway, far from being an "important job" this is an example of inexcusable waste. Casually using throw-away plastic junk for something as pointless as "separating the flavors", when I'm just going to shove both of those things into my mouth anyway without bothering to rinse out my mouth and cleanse my palate with bland crackers, is beyond the pale. With our precarious global environmental situation, we should be criticizing not apologizing for frivolous waste like this. And for this matter, stop giving me free plastic forks or chopsticks every time. I own my own reusable stainless steel utensils.
- r00fus 8y agoI really wish delivery services like DoorDash would present UI to opt out of cutlery and condiments (preferably as a default). When I order a dinner for delivery to my home, I'm likely going to use my own plates/knives. If I'm ordering via phone or pickup, I can decline the default forks/chopsticks but using the UI it's nto possible without a "comment" and some restaurants don't even read that. Yes there's already waste in the packaging but often that's compostable these days.
- jimmaswell 8y agoWhy would you rather do dishes than use free plastic cutlery/containers?
- EliRivers 8y agoYet I do. I have some free plastic cutlery in the kitchen right now, yet not ten minutes ago I washed up a ceramic plate and a metal fork. With my hands. There is a dishwasher but I'm using it to store post and as a wine rack.
- ghostwthemost 8y ago<3 for the idea to be using my dishwasher as a wine rack.. I despise wasting time waiting for dishes to wash in a dishwasher; noting also the time it takes to fill it before you run it can leave you without your favorite glass/dish!
- petre 8y agoI'd like that with bamboo leaves thank you.
- drusepth 8y agoThis literally gave me a headache to read. I assume they made the article look like a 6 year old drew/wrote it because they thought it wouldn't be long enough (page-wise) without 10000pt font? I wish there were a day to send feedback to the NYT saying "please do not do this again".
- code_duck 8y agoIt reminds me of the style of a popular cartoonist/author who contributes to the New Yorker.
- bgun 8y agoReading handwriting gives you a headache?
- pacoWebConsult 8y agoReading bubbly, squiggly cursive writing on a white background when nearly everything I use is black basically did give me a headache. Its an accessibility nightmare too.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- darkpuma 8y agoTo be fair, it's pretty bad handwriting. Perhaps deliberately so? And is switching between cursive and print in the middle of sentences meant to be stylistic? My handwriting is terrible too so maybe I shouldn't complain, but that's why I type.
- nkrisc 8y agoThis handwriting, in this case, yes. I found it very challenging and straining to read.
- untog 8y ago> This literally gave me a headache to read You may want to see a doctor. At the bottom of the article it states: > Wendy MacNaughton is a graphic journalist based in San Francisco. > Meanwhile: Wendy MacNaughton’s illustrated column about the big implications of seemingly small things. So, the illustration and the words together are kind of the point (and they don't look like a 6 year old drew them, come on). There's even an interview with her here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/reader-center/business-section-redesign-meanwhile.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/18/reader-center/business-se... In any case, newspapers have always had comics. I don't really see how this is all that different.
- swolchok 8y agoMods: please consider addressing the curiosity gap in the title by something like s/Object/Plastic Sushi Grass/ .
- Udik 8y agoHow does that tiny sheet of plastic in a plastic box separate the smell of fish from the rice when, in sushi, the fish is stuck either right above or inside the rice itself?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- peter_retief 8y agoI am sure this article is sardonic or maybe a word that I dont know yet, besides disturbing that is :)
- brucemoose 8y agoTo the people complaining about the format, does it make more sense if you look at it in the context of a social media story? It looks weird as images presented vertically on the New York times website. But this would be right at home in an instagram feed. I personally appreciate the hand drawn look and artwork, but supplementing that with a text version would be an improvement for many reasons.
- uranusjr 8y agoIt’s バラン, not バラソ. Surely the New York Times is capable of finding someone who actually reads Japanese to proofread their work?