‘Readability’ by arc90

Here’s yet another amazing product I’ve found at the mercy of reading David Pogue’s blog (the first being the Zeo, of course).  Readability is a super cool piece of javascript that turns any webpage with text and/or an article, like CNN, The New York Times, MSNBC, etc. into a nicely formatted page that looks like a Kindle screen or newspaper.  It eliminates all of the clutter around the article and lets you focus your attention on solely that – the content; the article.

How it Works

Readbility is super simple to install into your browser.  Simply go to their site, choose your options (formatting, style, and appearance), and then drag the bookmarklet into your browser’s bookmarks toolbar.  Then when you’re on a page you’d like to read distraction free, simply click the bookmarklet.  That’s it.  It’s super easy to use and incredibly effective at eliminating clutter.

How much does it cost?

Readability is completely free and is currently being offered as a beta service at the kindness of arc90.  It’s in beta because it’s still being perfected.  There are a few times where it renders the clutter-free view incorrectly.  In arc90′s defense, however, it’s usually the source site’s fault for forgetting to close a tag or something of the sort.

Demo

I made a little video to show you how it works. Click the thumbnail below to see the movie.

Give it a shot and see if you like it. I personally saw a little bit of a productivity boost – I’m easily distracted by the media embedded into usual articles. This provides a clear and easy way to read on the web. Leave a comment below letting me know your thoughts!

(I apologize for the gap between posts.  Last week was the last week of my semester at RMU, so I was extremely busy.  I’m also trying to learn to play the piano over my break in addition to working back at Fox Chapel Area School District.  Now that I’m on break and have more time on my hands, you can expect more regular posts like before.)