The text column is narrow because it's easier for humans to read text in narrow columns. Also, negative space isn't necessarily bad -- it can be used to draw at

The text column is narrow because it's easier for humans to read text in narrow columns. Also, negative space isn't necessarily bad -- it can be used to draw attention to important items. Now that I think about it, if the black bar was lighter, then the page wouldn't balance visually. To be honest, I didn't actually notice what was on the black bar when I first read the article, and when you scroll down it collapses into something less visually imposing. The open animation could do with being a bit faster or vanishing altogether though. I feel like having a smooth close animation is important because the eye is attracted to sudden movement.