Personally, I'm not a fan. For generic content like this, I'd rather read it in a table or chart. The data is being encoded into natural language, and then when we read it we have to parse the important information back out.
This is a weird example, but look at Groupon. One of the main reasons it's so big is the custom, humorous descriptions that go along with each item.
If newspapers want to survive, they shouldn't be automating their content- it just makes it more generic and forgettable. Nobody wants to read an article that a computer wrote.
> One of the main reasons it's so big is the custom, humorous descriptions that go along with each item.
Personally, I never read those. I skim the headline, and look at the deal details if the topic interests me and is a really good deal.
There's a difference in content though; with deals I just want the hard facts. With many news articles, I want some well-written copy to add context to otherwise meaningless/bland data.
For the Powerball results, the sentence format is a bit more engaging and I can skim it as fast as I would skim a table. If nothing else, it makes me feel like the publisher cares more about the reader.
This is a weird example, but look at Groupon. One of the main reasons it's so big is the custom, humorous descriptions that go along with each item.
If newspapers want to survive, they shouldn't be automating their content- it just makes it more generic and forgettable. Nobody wants to read an article that a computer wrote.