How many columns wide do you feel comfortabe reading on a web page?

In My Humble Opinion
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click here, and scroll down a few pages looking at the headlines.

Do you even notice whats in the far right column?

NY Post is far, far worse. 4 columns wide in some places. Try scrolling down a few pages? Do you swivel your head to look at all 4 columns?

I don’t and can’t. It bugs the crap out of me to move my head. I look straight at the screen and see the first two columns as I scroll or page down. Occasionally I’ll start back at the top and scroll down only looking at the far right column. Most days I don’t bother. I’ve noticed the most interesting articles are in those first two columns. The far right column is mostly gossip and celeb news.

Discovery channel ran a series on fascinating quirks of the human eye and mind. They ran one 60 second video of two people giving a product demonstration at a table. Then asked what changed. Very few people could name more than one thing. The back drop changed several times, the guys T shirt changed, woman’s glasses were removed. Our eyes miss that detail unless we’re told to look for it. It’s one of the reasons magicians can so easily fool an audience.

The limits of our visual perception of the world intrigues me. Our minds are funny in what they ignore.

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No one else reads the center of the screen and ignores the far right hand column?

I’m sure in my case it’s because of the way I read on the web. My eyes are focused on one spot on my monitor. My right hand is on the mouse’s scroll wheel. Other than a finger rolling the wheel I don’t move my head, eyes, or body.

Twisting my head from left to the right (looking at the whole monitor) constantly before I can scroll breaks my concentration and annoys me. It’s easier to read that far right side of the monitor by itself.

It’s also a 20 year habit from coding COBOL. COBOL is coded between columns 8 thru 72. The far left and right edges of the monitor are ignored.

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