There was a time in the 19th century where thin, spindly fonts where in vogue for printed books. They were later criticized by typographers and general readers for making books harder to read [1].
The web is experiencing a similar scenario where thin typefaces are being used for body type as it looks modern even though it's making body text less easy on the eyes. In small paragraphs I personally don't mind it, but many sites are now using it for long articles where it's not ideal.
[1] Daniel Updike's 'Printing Types, Their History, Forms, And Use; A Study In Survivals' is a great read.
Everything old is modern again. Cool links. I spent weeks fighting (and mostly losing) to a designer that wanted every website to use no more than a 300 font weight and no italics or other differentiating typography, all because it was "modern and light and airy". Wish I could have been like "Nope, here's people in the 19th century complaining about it" back at that point.
The web is experiencing a similar scenario where thin typefaces are being used for body type as it looks modern even though it's making body text less easy on the eyes. In small paragraphs I personally don't mind it, but many sites are now using it for long articles where it's not ideal.
[1] Daniel Updike's 'Printing Types, Their History, Forms, And Use; A Study In Survivals' is a great read.
Volume 1: https://archive.org/details/printingtypesthe01updi Volume 2: https://archive.org/details/printingtypesthe02updi