He likened the radio technology to responsive webdesign, a technique which enables webpages to automatically change shape and configuration depending on what type of device they are being read on, such as a smartphone or tablet.
The tabular structure of early webpages (now outlawed in all but exceptional circumstances, like HTML email design) forced designers to internalize fairly rigid grid principles.
And the limited choice of fonts the Kindle Paperwhite, for example, lets you pick from only six can make for pages whose design recalls the early days of the World Wide Web.
Webpages are so ugly because, having abandoned centuries of experience in graphic design, web designers have decided that what matters is to cram as much info as possible into the first page.