The BBC/Met Office recently re-vamped their onscreen graphics – the first major overhaul in some 20 years. The graphics are quite swish – but the trouble is, there’s been a lot of complaints! A lot of people are accusing the BBC of ‘dumbing down’ their content. I can understand this to a point – the old maps used to feature things like isobars and wind speeds, whereas the new ones feature animated rain and cloud cover. A lot of people have been particularly unimpressed by the fact the maps are a sandy brown. This is apparently for clarity, but nobody seems convinced other than the BBC.
Personally, I’m not sure yet. On the one hand, they are pretty good in terms of eye candy, and they do keep my attention more than the old weather did. On the other hand, they do seem rather too much like the kind of stuff the commercial channels use – pretty but not very functional.
I can quite honestly see the BBC making changes to the new system in a few months to add in and fix the criticisms people have of it, but for the most part, I think its here to stay.