I'm from a younger generation than most who read Slate, probably, and I don't actually think it takes me that much longer to read something online than it does on paper. Are there any studies out there regarding generational differences? Also, every time the author bold-faced something, I envisioned someone giving "finger quotes" in my head. Anyone else? I can't even remember what was being discussed in regards to bold-facing information, because I was so distracted by the finger-quote image.

The constant boldfaced words reminded me of sixth grade language arts class. Remeber those textbooks where they would put all the vocab words in bold? And they were always words that you already knew, like enormous. I kept waiting for an annoying teacher to say "Now class...."

The broken up paragraphs were also annoying. A paragraph should be a complete unit, not just a sentence, unless it's for emphasis. All that broken up text is what makes online articles harder to read than paper ones. You constantly have to stop and start your brain.