When software speaks its mind (sort of)

While I was slightly tweaking the CSS of this website — published via Blot — I stumbled upon a set of pages on the website written by its creator, David Merfield. Called Notes, these are not the typical pages you find on websites for services such as Blot, but rather on a personal blog. A few exemples:

There is a distinct SAAS-aesthetic. I don’t like it and I don’t want Blot to be associated with it. This aesthetic is infantile — it uses emojis and animated GIFs. It worships Steve Jobs and Walt Disney. It is obsessed with growth.

Why is the price $4 rather than $3.99 a month? I don’t like the look of prices that end in .99. It always struck me as a cheap trick. The number is messier too. Why use five glyphs if we can get away with two?

I firmly believe that when you design a webpage, you should start with a paragraph of text and work outwards.

My screen is small enough as it is, I do not want it further reduced by sticky headers and footers, by forms cajoling me into signing up for a newsletter. None of these improve the reading experience and only irritate me.

And my favourite bit:

I dislike when the page takes a long time to load.

The whole set of pages is great to read, and really makes me a prouder Blot user. Add to this the fantastic documentation available for users and developers, and of course the service itself, and you end up with a solution I cannot recommend enough if you own or want a blog or a personal website.