Flipboard Superficiality.

Flipboard receives heaps of press, all of which appears positive and uncritical despite serious, downright crippling flaws in the design. I had intended to outline those in a brief 2,000 word post here, but since Khoi Vinh has already gone through the trouble, why don’t we let him tell the story:

So far, these apps have done remarkably well simulating the orderliness of traditional print layout through algorithmic means, but the effect is still regrettably superficial. In their automated layouts, they frequently give higher priority or larger placement to insubstantial or just plain inane content; meanwhile more newsworthy, more important or more relevant content is often relegated to awkwardly subordinate regions of the page.

Flipboard is nice, I guess, if eye candy ((If we’re willing to ignore frequent design faux pas as well.)) is what you’re looking for. I prefer relevancy.