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Comment by ratboy666 | Hacker News Reader

"Reason" about it -- typography is art. There are many issues that started around when GUI word processing started. For example -- the "spring space" is simply gone. As is the "set indent to current (horizontal and vertical)". Kerning tables are pretty much gone (we used to have kerning by size/font font/combinations. This has not been simple. But typography is, basically, dead.

I have given up "teaching typography".

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At the end of the day I'm a developer, not a designer, so I'm not confident to speak to the art/design side of typography.

Having said that, I believe that art (and design) requires intention and thus some amount of "reasoning".

Think of it like this, though. Suppose books were invented second to the computer, not first. They'd be the hottest thing. Everyone would be reading in public and giving up their unreliable and vulnerable smartphones, who could resist the atomic collateral of a book, it simply uses so many more atoms per bit than a chip. Books are so much more trustworthy! I've only witnessed one hack on a book whereas I've seen so so many on computers.

So then, someone would post exactly your comment, but in reverse, "I have given up 'teaching typography'." Why? Because nobody cared about subpixel rendering, rotating screens, SVGs versus rasters, because everyone would be exploring kerning tables and spring space.

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