4 ms·

Despite the fact that this was filtered through HN seeing a stock picture of a key and then skimming quickly and seeing even more stock pictures turned me off f

by hvass 14y ago

Despite the fact that this was filtered through HN seeing a stock picture of a key and then skimming quickly and seeing even more stock pictures turned me off from reading the article. I thought it'd be interesting to point out.

_exec 14y ago
Stock-pics aside, I think the content is mildly-interesting and a good starting point.
- hermanhermitage 14y ago
  Agree, I like the article. It would be a pity if the stock0-pics put people off.
mmcnickle 14y ago
Hmm, I didn't even realise it, but that's exactly why I didn't read the article too.
jsonmez 14y ago
Interesting. I usually add images to post to help break up the text and make some mental connection between sections that I am talking about and a picture. So Q. Is the problem that the images are stock images? Or is the issue that there are images? Wouldn't just a bunch of text and no images make it much harder to get through the content? Not arguing one way or the other, just curious on thoughts on this.
- crisnoble 14y ago
  IMO, if the images don't aid the text, they are unnecessary. If people are going to read an article that long, the pictures aren't going to help break up the content. For me they were a bit distracting and actually caused some weird line breaks (I actually stated thinking about creating a bookmarklet that would zap unwanted DOM elements with a click). Other examples of long blocks of text which people read include books, articles on http://alistapart.com http://alistapart.com (okay they have one but it is classy and fits with the site), and long comment threads on hacker news.
- joshuacc 14y ago
  Not the gp, but I had the same reaction. It is a good idea to break up the text and use images to convey one's point. However, I found the quality of the images chosen quite poor. Just like there is an art to writing, there is also an art to choosing the correct imagery to accompany the text. Besides the poor technical quality, many of the images in the article are using visual cliches. Together, these problems subconsciously guide the reader into expecting a similarly low quality from the text. I'd suggest combing through the Creative Commons images on something like http://compfight.com/ http://compfight.com/ for things that are a bit more unusual and visually interesting. It's also worth pointing out that if you just can't find any good images to accompany your article, it may be better to just let the text speak for itself.

by hvass 14y ago

_exec 14y ago

Stock-pics aside, I think the content is mildly-interesting and a good starting point.

hermanhermitage 14y ago
Agree, I like the article. It would be a pity if the stock0-pics put people off.

mmcnickle 14y ago

Hmm, I didn't even realise it, but that's exactly why I didn't read the article too.

jsonmez 14y ago

Interesting. I usually add images to post to help break up the text and make some mental connection between sections that I am talking about and a picture. So Q. Is the problem that the images are stock images? Or is the issue that there are images? Wouldn't just a bunch of text and no images make it much harder to get through the content? Not arguing one way or the other, just curious on thoughts on this.

crisnoble 14y ago
IMO, if the images don't aid the text, they are unnecessary. If people are going to read an article that long, the pictures aren't going to help break up the content. For me they were a bit distracting and actually caused some weird line breaks (I actually stated thinking about creating a bookmarklet that would zap unwanted DOM elements with a click). Other examples of long blocks of text which people read include books, articles on http://alistapart.com http://alistapart.com (okay they have one but it is classy and fits with the site), and long comment threads on hacker news.
joshuacc 14y ago
Not the gp, but I had the same reaction. It is a good idea to break up the text and use images to convey one's point. However, I found the quality of the images chosen quite poor. Just like there is an art to writing, there is also an art to choosing the correct imagery to accompany the text. Besides the poor technical quality, many of the images in the article are using visual cliches. Together, these problems subconsciously guide the reader into expecting a similarly low quality from the text. I'd suggest combing through the Creative Commons images on something like http://compfight.com/ http://compfight.com/ for things that are a bit more unusual and visually interesting. It's also worth pointing out that if you just can't find any good images to accompany your article, it may be better to just let the text speak for itself.