Spitfire - Return to Flight by Brendon Deere - A Review

[Jukka Juutinen]

I have glasses as well, and I read several hours per day. And everytime I encounter ragged-right text, reading speed drops by at least 80%. Often by 100% and I skip the book totally. Hyphenation present no problem to me at all. And if you care to check, ragged right is a very present phenomenon. Right before my eyes I have a Finnish aviation periodical from 1933: all text except short caption is fully justified. I also have a book on aero engines from 1918, again fully justified throughout. I haven´t seen a single pre-1990s book with ragged right text. Considering that "pre-ragged" time lasted several hundred years, I am inclined to take that as a proof that fully justidied is the best way to go. Ragged-right simply indicates a designer lacking in proper skills. Or he is severely stoned.

I have compared the two extensively, and everytime the ragged-right loses miserably.

I haven´t met a single person who reads a lot of texts and is at least 30 yrs old to prefer ragged-right.

And are these "educational psychologists" of the same league as those doctors who consider alcoholism an illness when it is actually a weakness of character? BTW, I am a teetotaller.

One more thing: shouldn´t books be designed with literate people in mind, not semiliterate?

[Amrit1]

I'm sorry Jukka but rather than an intelligent discussion you straightaway dismiss and denograte what you don't understand.

So I shall just leave my reply to a couple of points.

Originally Posted by Jukka Juutinen

And are these "educational psychologists" of the same league as those doctors who consider alcoholism an illness when it is actually a weakness of character? BTW, I am a teetotaller.

To dismiss research in a clear medical field is just arrogance, and using oneself as an example so as to look down on others is further proof that.

One more thing: shouldn´t books be designed with literate people in mind, not semiliterate?

I always thought books were a tool for education, not merely there for the edification of the elitest few.

[Ruy Horta]

Interesting discussion on layout, point to accept different views on the subject and shake hands.

Back to the original topic.

The sample pages included the term "Messerschmidt" which is something that really tickles my irritation bone!