Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherCat
I also got going many moons ago on small devices for reading with Pocket PC (so around 2002) and never found small screens and short lines an issue for text. In fact on a 6" 18:9 ratio phone display I prefer to read in two columns in landscape rather than in around 5-1/4 inch lines.
Regarding the "golden number" I don't believe that its origin had anything to do with reading comfort at all. In the days of mechanical teleprinters the standard for transmission of teletype was that a CR/LF was to be sent prior to the 69th character in order to avoid the receiving printer overrunning its carriage width. In my early days I actually built programs for radio transmission of teletype (as was used by the likes of diplomatic posts, news agencies, amateur radio operators, ships, etc.) and if I recall correctly the design target was to have the CR/LF sent between 60 and 66 characters in order to minimize the splitting of words.
Even now with computer terminals with no carriage width limitation it is still common to break lines in the same place to display on screen.
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The "golden number" in terms of line typography
predates CR/LF.
The factual establishment of the "why" (as opposed to other reasons) has been fairly recent, in the last decade, if memory serves. In studying human reading and eye movement, the folks studying it were surprised to find the results, which seemed to indicate that typesetters and book designers had figured it out, without the benefit of advanced physiological testing that showed the eye-flicks, neurochemicals, etc. Google it.
Hitch