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Comment by microcentury | Hacker News Reader

It really is astonishing how much bile and vitriol can be caused by a UI change. I guess it's a subset of the general dislike of change most people have. And it's also amazing how absolutely certain some people are that their own view is the right one.

I'm not a fan of the new UI yet, but I suspect in a few weeks I will have forgotten what the old one was like.

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Perhaps part of it is that it is a reminder of lack of control of cloud based software? With most traditional software, if I dislike the new version I can continue using the old. With cloud based software, including just about all web based programs, when there is a new version my choices are to use the new version or switch to something else entirely (and if the product has any form of effective lock in, the second may not really be an option).

People like the feeling of being in control, and a change they did not expect and cannot undo undermines that feeling.

The only bit of the change I object to --- since I never used the social features --- is that they've changed the link colour from blue to dark grey.

This is enough to make links mostly invisible, and makes Reader much less useful as a feed reader for me.

In a few weeks I'll either be using a different feed reader, or my eyes will be much better at distinguishing dark grey from black.

What part of this post sounds like bile and vitriol to you? I t reads to me like a clinical analysis, not an emotional reaction.

What is your screen resolution?

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