This is why whenever I open an article or blog post, the first thing I do before even trying to read the article is click the "readability" button (or pocket/in

This is why whenever I open an article or blog post, the first thing I do before even trying to read the article is click the "readability" button (or pocket/instapaper/safari reader/whichever one you like). I appreciate what the person above said "take into the account that the Web/Hypertext is about more than just text." That's fine. But unless I'm on my tumblr dashboard, I'm visiting a blog probably to read text. Branding is important, sure. But you can have great branding and still be readable. You don't need huge style sheets, you don't need a ton of images, you don't need a ton of scripts. Look at Svbtle for example, right? So what's the problem? "Monetizing content, especially written content, is extremely difficult. I think Svbtle’s biggest innovation will be in this area, but I don’t know what it is yet."[1] So what's the solution? First of all I love that _most_ of the personal blogs on HN lead by example. Secondly I think adblock and noscript should be encouraged whenever possible (I know there's no way adblock would be rolled in to browsers). Thirdly get native "reader" button in Chrome, FF and IE. Content creators need to make money but until we figure that out, we can't expect users to stare at disgusting web sites for much longer. Or maybe we can, if the state of TV and FM radio advertising teaches us anything... Maybe that's it, most people just deal with it so who cares. Still makes me sad though. I googled for a list of "top blogs" and found this list[2], amazing how many of them are visually DISGUSTING. 1: http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/08/with-funding-for-svbtle-dustin-curtis-wants-to-build-a-business-in-long-form-online-content/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/08/with-funding-for-svbtle-dus... 2: http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/ http://technorati.com/blogs/top100/