Small PDA Type Hurts Eyes

PDA fonts take toll on eyes; digital typefounders search for solutions Surely the end of the world is nigh…

PDA fonts take toll on eyes; digital typefounders search for solutions

Surely the end of the world is nigh. The Wall Street Journal:

“I have 30-year-olds coming in for reading glasses so they can focus on their BlackBerry,” says Alli Rossi, an optician in Los Angeles.

The quote comes from an article with the rather obvious title of “PDA Use Triggers Eyestrain” written by the WSJ’s Jane Spencer and published on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s website. It would seem that the ever-newer, ever smaller portable technologies that cram the capabilities–and displays–of what formerly set on our desktops are straining our eyes even more than the desktop displays themselves are doing.

Technology is trying to ride to the rescue on this one; from Microsoft’s Fruitger Linotype to Clear Type to Sony’s specially-designed fonts to Palm’s “transflexive screens”.

Until that time, though, a simple search on Google turns up a great many simple, free, and practical solutions.

(Via Microsoft Typography)

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