Safari release version supporting downloadable web fonts...

[Si_Daniels]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

Let the f'ugly* fun begin.

Samples linked here...
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssatten

Cheers, Si

*font ugly 😉

[Stephen Coles]

My fears realized.

[Si_Daniels]

I think this will become known as "Web 3.Oh my gawd! Who picked that font?" ;-)

Let's come back in a year and see if Ray Larabie, and any other designers who allow their freeware fonts to be used, are elevated to the pantheons of the font gods.

[Si_Daniels]

PS no disrespect to Ray, his fonts have their place, just don't think every web page in the “whole freaking world” is that place. ;-)

[dezcom]

it looks like they expect the reader to connect the dots on this one, Si :-)

ChrisL

[paul d hunt]

yikes! that cannot be zen!

[dezcom]

Zen and the Art of Fartery :-)

ChrisL

[Ralf H.]

Not a "major browser", no protection for commercial fonts, no kerning support, …
But still: a milestone! Both for web designers and the font industry!

I'll bet you in 10 or 15 years the major foundries will be whining about how they underestimated the new market of web fonts.

[jupiterboy]

If I recall Zen and the Art of Archery advocated hitting the target without using your eyes. That must be the key to this as well.

[dezcom]

"without using your eyes"

LOL!!! Yes, Grasshopper :-)

ChrisL

[Si_Daniels]

Interesting that this was on the news last night...

"Computer Vision Syndrome Becoming More Common"

The answer is apparently "rose tinted glasses" - maybe that's what the font industry needs too ;-)

[dezcom]

or a seeing-eye dog :-)

ChrisL

[Dunwich Type]

This is going to make a lot of money for type designers who can afford a lawyer, or just write a good cease-and-desist-or-license-my-fonts letter. Just figure out how to get a search engine to pull up every site using your font and start going after all the pirates and all the customers of eBay bootleg font vendors.

[aluminum]

Keep in mind that while this is cool, this was in all likelihood done for one reason and one reason only: custom iPhone apps

[Si_Daniels]

>This is going to make a lot of money for type designers who can afford a lawyer,

No, this is going to make a lot of money for lawyers who work for type designers.

>it looks like they expect the reader to connect the dots on this one, Si :-)

Chris, that design had me in stitches, fortunately you can download the font no-strings-attached.

[Si_Daniels]

>custom iPhone apps

I doubt it, but somone should try the examples on a firmware 2.0 iPhone and share the results.

[aluminum]

"I doubt it"

I don't doubt folks will use it for more than that, but at this point, Safari's main purpose in terms of Apple development is the iPhone/iTouch.

[Si_Daniels]

Sadly our confidentially promise with those folks won’t let me counter your theory, but maybe over a pint at TypeCon ;-)

[Dunwich Type]

Keep in mind that while this is cool, this was in all likelihood done for one reason and one reason only: custom iPhone apps

I think that there’s more to it than that; namely, Apple got sick of waiting for the standards crowd to get something done and took the initiative to craft a solution that will annoy some people, but get the ball rolling. It’s something that Apple is in a unique position to do; if say, Microsoft or Adobe tried this, people would just start screaming “monopolists!” and “embrace and extend!”. Surely custom fonts for iPhone apps is something Apple would like to have, but the reality is that the W3C should have worked this stuff out a long time ago.

[Si_Daniels]

Well at least I can comment on that. CSS has theoretically supported this mechanism for like for ever. Hakon Lie (author of CSS) started pushing browser makers to support it. Dave Hyatt who works on WebKit put it in a while back and its worked its way into Safari. I think the whole effort is standards-driven rather than anti-standards.

[Dunwich Type]

Thanks for straightening me out…err, clearing that one up, Sii. Maybe I’ll just submit a Mozdev bug request about Firefox not supporting this…

[Dan Gayle]

I think you should submit a bug request to Apple about supporting it :)

[Miguel Sousa]

Can someone remind me where in the Preferences I turn this thing off ?

[Ralf H.]

Typographica: John Gruber, via email, succinctly describes the dilemma:
The fonts you’re allowed to embed legally aren't worth using; the fonts that are worth using aren't embeddable.

So what can we do about it? Provide the fonts worth using!

Yes, there will be ugly MySpace sites which will be unreadable. Yes, there will be websites using commercial fonts without paying. But still: it's a big opportunity for everyone.
If anyone thinks the same I would be very interested in sharing ideas. How would web fonts be licensed? Per user? Per domain? Per domain per year? On demand (per download from the foundry's server)? At which prices? How can commercial fonts be protected (which means: how can we make it a litter harder to get them)?

[James Arboghast]

Let’s come back in a year and see if Ray Larabie, and any other designers who allow their freeware fonts to be used, are elevated to the pantheons of the font gods.

PS no disrespect to Ray, his fonts have their place, just don’t think every web page in the “whole freaking world” is that place. ;-)

Sii, adding a winking emoticon at the end of that statement does nothing to diminish the insulting, discriminatory and divisive nature of it, and the snotty remark you made before it regarding "the pantheons of the font gods". By mentioning Ray Larabie and only Ray Larabie you single him out. Liking or disliking Ray Larabie's free fonts is a matter of personal taste, but on an objective basis that is not the issue for this topic and has no place in this discussion.

The first remark was nothing more than a thinly-veiled put-down of Ray Larabie's merit as a type maker and designer. You then tried to disguise your hubris by saying "...disrespect to Ray...[yada yada yada]."

You did much the same thing to me on the recent CSS thread, singling me and the embedding terms in my EULA out for scrutiny. I abandoned that thread because it was obvious the cabal, on that occasion consisting of you and Adam Twardoch, had decided to sink a hatchet into my back for a minor indescretion on my part.

Kindly stick to the topic at hand when at Typophile and stop making personal attacks on individuals. I am drawing the community's attention to you because I notice you doing it over and over, yet I haven't noticed anyone else in particular making such obvious attacks.

Alternatively, keep on with your hubris and personal attacks, as it only makes you look bad. Don't assume that if Arbo isn't posting much he isn't reading typophile.

Moderators---will one of you please have a word with Simon offline about this. Thankyou.

j a m e s

j a m e s