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comment by kleinbl00
kleinbl00  ·  2578 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: How we made the typeface Comic Sans

Yes BUT

This is ex Microserfs saying "we wanted something whimsical and approachable for Microsoft Bob" without acknowledging that Microsoft Bob was an unflushed bowel movement of a program and that Microsoft included it in Win95 because they had it, not because they needed it. See also: Clippy.

There are fonts designed to be approachable and friendly that weren't mouse-traced by a dude attempting to give voice to Clippy the St. Bernard - Lint McCree and Chalkboard come to mind - that would have accomplished everything Microsoft wanted with Bob and, later, Win95. But Microsoft didn't include those. Comic Sans? Comic Sans MS is a fuckin' websafe font. Microsoft leveraged Comic Sans every bit as much as they leveraged Internet Explorer because if you're looking for something approachable in the pulldown of Word, your choices are serif formality, sans-serif formality or diapershit Comic Sans. Thus, the world gets covered in diapershit when, if they'd just shown a little more care and concern, we'd have something non-hideous.

The people who defend Comic Sans as approachable tend to be the ones who think this is a choice, not a cry for help:





user-inactivated  ·  2578 days ago  ·  link  ·  

This is my desktop right now, at least I have grid spacing on

kleinbl00  ·  2578 days ago  ·  link  ·  

...

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ocd.gif

I have been using Quicksilver/Launchy for so long that having icons on my desktop that aren't drives feels like a deep personal failing. Wait, what was that quote?

    Comic Sans was designed for Microsoft Bob, which in many ways was a precursor to Cortana or Siri – for people who had problems with computers.

Siri wasn't designed for people who had problems with computers. It was designed for people who got sick of typing with their thumbs. If that is your chosen method of file management and discovery I shall cast no aspersions but I will argue that just because lots of people don't seek out better tools does not mean that the most-used tool is the best.