I'm inclined to believe that because I am a bit of a font nerd, but I don't think it's actually true that text is truly more readable for having spent $99 extra on a premium font for it.
Re:Practical Typography
by jrochkind1 on Wednesday July 24, 2013 @08:55PM
(#6100240)
Well, the first question is if a better font text more readable.
The next question is how you identify a better font, and if most $99 fonts are better than most free fonts or not. Certainly there are going to be some crappy $99 fonts, and perhaps a couple good free fonts, sure, the price isn't a guarantee.
I actually agree with your point about "okay, so buy two good fonts instead of dozens of crappy ones' -- but I disagree there is little intrinsic utility in a high-quality 'premium' font.
A better font will make the work that uses it more readable and intelligible. It adds _utility_, not just beauty, to the text that uses it.