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New York Times Reader (beta)
The New York Times has a dedicated reader program that has been in open beta since September 27th that allows users to read the Times on their computer in a way that more closely matches the experience of reading the dead-tree newspaper. Although I'm not a huge newspaper fan, I downloaded this application and it really is enjoyable to use. The New York Times Reader software relies on Microsoft's new .Net framework 3.0, which can make the installation take a bit of time if you don't already have it installed. I already had .Net 3.0 installed, so the reader installed in about two minutes. Once it launched, it failed to synchronize with the server, but shutting it completely down (including the system tray icon that stays running) and restarting it fixed that problem. The layout is well optimized for reading, splitting content into rows of a reasonable width. It also does a very good job of dynamically optimizing the text layout based on how large the window is sized. Ads are included in an unobtrusive way, and I've found that when reading in a smaller Times Reader window, ads are removed to make more room for content.
The download (and use of the software) requires a free NYT account.
Thanks to Download Squad tipster Bob Rudis for the link.
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsRichardDec 4th 2006 4:25PM
The NY Times reader is a memory hog on my machine weighing in at over 87MB. IMHO, it is better to avoid this download and surf to nytimes.com in FireFox. You are probably running it anyway.
FabuloDec 6th 2006 1:45PM
Sounds like they re-invented 97% of a web browser without the ability to run adblock.
Since when reading a dead tree newspaper is enjoyable?
ChrisDec 6th 2006 9:16PM
Although the NYTimes Reader is similar to reading it online in a browser, I think they have done a great job implementing an interesting idea. I find the NYTimes Reader to be a much more natural way to read the news. Articles expand automatically if you enlarge the program which leads to much less scrolling and mouse holding, read articles are hidden if you so choose, pictures on the "front pages" are included or excluded depending on how much room you give the program, etc. Overall I am able to get through the news much more quickly with a super-clean, elegant layout devoid of hundreds of distractions, links, etc and a maximum of one unobtrusive ad per page (and only in the articles, none on the "front pages").