[mrdoops]

Syntax is a subjective concern for sure. My experience has been that Erlang takes a little more effort and time to read fluidly, but only when first learning. I think this is because Erlang uses visually subtle tokens for important language distinctions (upper vs lower caps and periods being the primary culprits). Now that I've spent enough time in the ecosystem reading Erlang isn't really a problem, but Elixir's syntax felt like it took less mental effort to read when starting out.

I think Elixir making different token choices for these distinct ideas is the main reason for readability improvements. Especially since Erlang has less different tokens overall which you'd think would help reduce the noise.