April 25, 2022
Why I built this blog
Here's why I built this passion side-project, along with a roadmap and longer-term vision. I summarize how I built it in this post.
Why I built it
I was inspired by HEY's clean reading experience, and by Ghost, whose initial slogan was "just a blogging platform." So, like most web tinkerers, I decided to stake out my slice of the web and build this blog.
This blog is meant to be simple. Here's what it doesn't have:
This blog is meant to be simple. Here's what it doesn't have:
- No ads
- No comments
- No likes
- No user analytics
- No suggested articles
The LPQ ideal
It's just long-form content, one post at a time. This was inspired by an idea I had called "LPQ", which stands for long-form, print, quality content. It's the type of reading I want, the way I want to experience it.
Let's take these one by one.
Long-form matters because it's more interesting and allows the writer to communicate nuanced ideas. Maybe I'm long-winded but long-form has always been a breath of fresh air compared to snack-sized newsfeed content.
Print is an interesting one. First think about what you have with print: a sheet of paper with words and pictures. The paper is light and tactile, it bends, it never runs out of battery, it's cheap, you can drop it, you can tear it up. Paper doesn't have links or like buttons. It doesn't show what other users highlighted, or who else is currently reading and where their cursor is. There aren't browser tabs, menu bars, search bars, favorites, or message alerts. In short, reading on paper removes web and device distractions. An e-reader may be a good substitute sometimes because it's lighter and convenient, but if I'm at home, I prefer print.
Quality is subjective, but to me quality content is deep, not shallow, and goes into ideas. It's insightful, can be read slowly and savored, is creative, original, and challenges the reader. For fiction, it's also good world building, character development, and engaging plotlines. Quality isn't TV-style writing. It's not like a processed food designed to push the brain's salt, sugar, and fat buttons. In contrast, low quality content may give a temporary enjoyment hit, but it isn't fulfilling or enriching, and can leave a bad aftertaste.
This blog is digital, not paper-based, so can't solve every problem above. But the design solves a lot of them by removing distractions. Plus browser-based reading isn't all bad. It can be more convenient, lower cost, and have less material waste than trying to read everything on paper. The design challenge is to get the best of both worlds, and uncover the web's ideal experience experience.
Let's take these one by one.
Long-form matters because it's more interesting and allows the writer to communicate nuanced ideas. Maybe I'm long-winded but long-form has always been a breath of fresh air compared to snack-sized newsfeed content.
Print is an interesting one. First think about what you have with print: a sheet of paper with words and pictures. The paper is light and tactile, it bends, it never runs out of battery, it's cheap, you can drop it, you can tear it up. Paper doesn't have links or like buttons. It doesn't show what other users highlighted, or who else is currently reading and where their cursor is. There aren't browser tabs, menu bars, search bars, favorites, or message alerts. In short, reading on paper removes web and device distractions. An e-reader may be a good substitute sometimes because it's lighter and convenient, but if I'm at home, I prefer print.
Quality is subjective, but to me quality content is deep, not shallow, and goes into ideas. It's insightful, can be read slowly and savored, is creative, original, and challenges the reader. For fiction, it's also good world building, character development, and engaging plotlines. Quality isn't TV-style writing. It's not like a processed food designed to push the brain's salt, sugar, and fat buttons. In contrast, low quality content may give a temporary enjoyment hit, but it isn't fulfilling or enriching, and can leave a bad aftertaste.
This blog is digital, not paper-based, so can't solve every problem above. But the design solves a lot of them by removing distractions. Plus browser-based reading isn't all bad. It can be more convenient, lower cost, and have less material waste than trying to read everything on paper. The design challenge is to get the best of both worlds, and uncover the web's ideal experience experience.
Roadmap and vision
Here are a few roadmap items. As with any passion project, there's no guarantees I'll get to them but they'd be fun to build:
- Journal mode. Allows user to post private journal entries that aren't shared openly.
- Full-screen view. Strips away all distractions so it's just user + content.
- Easy print. Lets user print one or more posts and remove the images if needed.
- New user support. Lets new users register and create their own blogs.
Vision
The web needs a free, open-source, distraction-free place to blog. Think of it like a stripped down Medium, or potentially what the initial vision for WordPress was. If this is a project you're interested in, please reach out, it'd be fun to collab on it.