It’s taken the waters, it’s had an extreme makeover (aided by the wizards of Winterhouse), it’s wired for sound, it’s ready for its closeup, it’s full of poetry, history, and animation, it’s taken some busy Bobolinks under its wing, and, in the words of the old television ad (which would make a great multimedia addition to—to Emdashes, actually!), it’s probably the best New Yorker website that ever was. Hats off to redesign captains Matt Dellinger and Blake Eskin! Not to mention the entire rest of the staff, who’ve been toiling for months and can finally take a fraction of a break.
As you can imagine—since this event blends some of my most beloved preoccupations, magazines, design, the web, and The New Yorker—I’ve been waiting for months for this afternoon. I was out of the office when the redesign sprang to life, and when I returned the always current Jason Kottke had already posted his first impressions, including useful technical notes for the web team. Michael Stillwell weighed in, too; his post links to other reactions. (The site’s archive page addresses some of the concerns listed: “Coming Soon: Most New Yorker articles since 2001 and selected pieces from before; thousands of brief reviews of books, movies, recordings, and restaurants; and a searchable index, with abstracts, of articles since 1925.”) And what do you think, reader?
While you’re touring the new site, by the way, be sure to read this week’s best Talk of the Town—GOAT-herding wunderkind Michael Schulman’s practically McPhee-like journey through all nine hours of the recent Tom Stoppard marathon. It sparkles like a glass of Breaky Bottom à la méthode champenoise. The boy has a bright future, mark my words!