[ekianjo]

There's also a reason it is used. A typical magazine layout does not translate well on an vertical scrolling page. This is one solution to a conversion problem. There's not always a "BEST" solution to that kind of thing. There are trade-offs no matter what you choose to do. However, providing different ways to view the same information is usually a good practice.

I wonder what is the "user" perspective on this. I am not sure everyone hates it - since it feels familiar in terms of structure.

[ricardobeat]

I agree, but the trade-offs depend on your goals, and for each of those there is a best solution. If you want to provide a good reading experience on the web, you have to use appropriate layouts.

[petertwhitesell]

>for each of those there is a best solution.

This isn't necessarily true. For instance, if A and B are each measurable characteristics of potential solutions and your goal values A and B equally, if all other characteristics of solutions X and Y are equal, but X={A:2, B:7, ...} and Y={A:7, B:2, ...}, then X and Y are equally "good" solutions according to your goal.

[ricardobeat]

You're funny.