Comment Not a project to trumpet involvement with (Score 3, Informative) 214
The recasting of the weather forecast has been a deeply disheartening experience. For those not familiar with the problems of the new (linux powered! I would keep quiet about that if I were an linux advocate) forecast -
(1) Even by its own criteria it does not work well. In terms of presenting information it is a disaster. Masterfully clear and concise icons evolved over decades have been ditched for a series of children's animations that manage to be both impenetrable and suggestive of absurd accuracy at the same time.
(2) Worse though is the BBC's retreat from providing an informative and educational forecast. Over decades skilled forecaster-presenters subtlety explained synoptic charts and the large scale weather story so that the UK weather - and the uncertainty in that forecast - was skillfully conveyed. This meant that you were never in dark - rain not arrived by lunchtime? the front must have slowed, it will be along later.
Now there is no structure or intelligence to the forecast - it is a goldfish view of the weather. One result of this was that, regardless of education, many could make a basic interpretation of isobars, etc: quite possibly the only scientific chart they would encounter. I am not sure that losing this literacy is a good thing.
And why have they done all this? It is a puzzle: the bbc web page condenses the rationale to "Today's media industry is like a shark, either you keep moving forward or you are dead in the water.". Perhaps the weather forecast, previously a high point of the BBC's output - has been handed over those who design programme idents and trailers.
(1) Even by its own criteria it does not work well. In terms of presenting information it is a disaster. Masterfully clear and concise icons evolved over decades have been ditched for a series of children's animations that manage to be both impenetrable and suggestive of absurd accuracy at the same time.
(2) Worse though is the BBC's retreat from providing an informative and educational forecast. Over decades skilled forecaster-presenters subtlety explained synoptic charts and the large scale weather story so that the UK weather - and the uncertainty in that forecast - was skillfully conveyed. This meant that you were never in dark - rain not arrived by lunchtime? the front must have slowed, it will be along later.
Now there is no structure or intelligence to the forecast - it is a goldfish view of the weather. One result of this was that, regardless of education, many could make a basic interpretation of isobars, etc: quite possibly the only scientific chart they would encounter. I am not sure that losing this literacy is a good thing.
And why have they done all this? It is a puzzle: the bbc web page condenses the rationale to "Today's media industry is like a shark, either you keep moving forward or you are dead in the water.". Perhaps the weather forecast, previously a high point of the BBC's output - has been handed over those who design programme idents and trailers.
