The problem is that we're not in 640x480 world anymore. We're rapidly leaving 960px-width-world. Our displays are finally getting denser (which lets us use smal

The problem is that we're not in 640x480 world anymore. We're rapidly leaving 960px-width-world. Our displays are finally getting denser (which lets us use smaller font sizes successfully) and wider. And the desire to avoid 120-character-wide columns isn't some arbitrary fetish of print design. Over-width columns actively hinder readability. Robert Bringhurst: Anything from 45 to 75 characters is widely regarded as a satisfactory length of line for a single-column page set in a serifed typeface in a text size. The 66-character line (counting both letters and spaces) is widely regarded as ideal. For multiple-column work, a better average is 40 to 50 characters. If the type is well set and printed, lines of 85 or 90 characters will pose no problem in discontinuous texts, such as bibliographies, or, with generous leading, in footnotes. But even with generous leading, a line that averages more than 75 or 80 characters is likely to be too long for continuous reading. These typographical rules of thumb are ultimately derived from human physiology -- limiting the range through which the eye has to skip left and right makes reading more relaxing, and the mental act of trying to go from the right edge of a mile-wide paragraph to the left edge without losing one's place is fatiguing. [1] Up to now web designers have coped by forcing a single column, forcing that column to be of limited width, and just padding out the remaining width with navigation elements or whitespace. But the whitespace begins to look ridiculous when it's 80% of the width of the screen. So we're probably going to see more instances of successful multi-column layouts. This is likely to break continuous scrolling, but on a device which supports useful multi-column layouts you'll probably be okay with page-by-page scrolling. Or, well, not. We shall see. --- [1] I highly recommend resizing the HN screen if you want to read one of my doorstopper comments. ;)