So Basic It’s Not Even Funny

Laura K. Curtis writes about book bloggers and lists a whole bunch you might want to subscribe to:

There are fewer book bloggers around now than when I started, but I’d like to encourage people to visit them, especially since you are more apt to find less well-known books by looking at blogs, books you might really enjoy, but might otherwise never find.

“Who has time to cruise all these sites?!” I hear you cry.

“No one,” I answer. “That’s why there are feed readers.”

What delighted me especially was this line: “It’s NetNewsWire for Mac and it’s so basic it’s not even funny.”

And I — earnestly — love this, since it describes my design and development aesthetic so perfectly. So basic it’s not even funny. I might even ask her if I can quote her on the NetNewsWire website. (Update: I did ask.)

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I’ve always been a minimalist, but when I was younger I’d temper that — sometimes extremely (remember the releases of Glassboard with a wood grain background) — because I was afraid my intended audience wouldn’t like it. I was afraid I was too extreme.

I don’t know what the difference is now, but I am completely unafraid to be the designer and coder I am. Or, as a bit of advice I got early in my career put it: be the freak you are.

Maybe just because I’m older? Maybe tastes in general have shifted that way a little? Dunno. But I’m sure glad I got here.

So basic it’s not even funny!

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Yes, I’m aware of the modern use of basic to mean something rather judgmental. I plainly don’t give a fig. (And I don’t think Laura meant it that way.)