Perhaps, for you, the "simplicity" of the Beta is it is a Swiss Army Knife, the only tool you will ever need? Or something along those lines.
That's a fair analogy for a few reasons.
One factor: The SA knife is a well-designed tool. Even sitting on in a glove box, it looks nice and feels nice. It shows careful craftsmanship.
The new SI gives that same sense of careful craftsmanship. Even though I miss the original coffee coloring, the new site still looks clean and elegant. It has a unique look that shares current design trends but is still distinct.
The other factor that both share is utility: Both the knife and the site provide quick and easy access to a wealth of tools. The message boards on the site are like the big knife blade on a Swiss Army knife. The blade and the boards are the best available. The other tools are well-crafted, but might not be the best available. Still, though, they're good enough that the ease of having them all in one place makes them worth using.
A couple of us mentioned the Reuters News link that can be put onto the toolbar. Just about every site that has news offers some version of the Reuters wire. Many provide extra utility. Like you, I keep many browser windows open and I could put one of them onto another news site. But the utility of having the news just one click away while I'm reading messages makes me stay right here. I still go elsewhere for the full story, but find myself checking news more often when it's readily available. It's not the best news tool (like a SA corkscrew isn't the best of those) but it's good enough to do the job.
Finally, though, even if one never ventures out of the "knife-blade" message boards, the extra efficiency of the new site (the multiple-message option, short mouse movement for navigation, consistency) make it a better tool for that single purpose. |
