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September 27, 2006
NYT Reader Released in Beta
The NYT has released a beta version of its Times Reader software, which I found first at the Reinventing College Media blog and then at CNet. I’ll try not to get too bogged down in the whole “Why isn’t there a Mac version” whining that seems to be prevalent, but suffice it to say that if you like to read the New York Times on a computer screen, it’s a pretty cool way to go.
The layout is similar in many ways to a traditional newspaper, but the rendering is quite striking. It’s a standalone application that continually checks for new content and uses the new Windows Presentation Framework on the still-in-development .NET 3.0 platform as a rendering engine. All’s I can say is that if Vista looks this nice, it’ll be a great upgrade. The text is clear and smooth and the photographs have great detail and punch.
That said, it’s kind of sad and weird that we need a proprietary application to make things look this good and work this smoothly. The transitions between sections are slick and the stories read as easily as they do on the page, if not easier. You can print and email stories, make notes to yourself, search, pretty much do anything but read opinion columns (unless you're a TimesSelect subscriber -- ye gods, why don't they just give up and let the columnists go free). Mac users aren't happy that there isn't a Mac version, but they'll either get over it or keep howling until the Windows Presentation Framework for the Mac is made available. In the meantime, it's not like they can't access the Web site.
You hear that kvetching a lot from Mac users and I can't say that it's not annoying. The Web is now littered with proprietary podcast links (curse the guy who set up the phobos.apple.com domain), so I don't feel particularly bad that Apple users are excluded here. I'd rather see the NYT try something new without having to sweat supporting every OS which is, let's face it, often the part of the process that takes the most time. Java would have been a nightmare here and this is a good example of what MS's new presentation architecture can do. Seems like a lot to like. I thought the Times has handled it about as well as they could.
But anyway, it's an interesting new tool and definitely worth a download.
Posted by Lee Clontz at September 27, 2006 12:18 AM