Any website that isn't happy with 700-800 pixels horizontally is broken (I'm looking at you Westlaw). Narrow columns of text are just better: http://www.ninjapost.com/blog/on-the-importance-of-narrow-co....

I find I like things the opposite way - if I want to read narrow columns of text, I'll read a newspaper. My browser is not a newspaper, however, and I prefer sites that expand to fit the browser's width.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that sites that enforce this kind of narrow text (an exaggeration in order to make a point I must confess), to be entirely off-putting, and liable to lose a reader, and to have their bounce rate increased. These types of sites usually have huge columns of white space at either side of their text - space which could be put to better use displaying text, rather than trying to dictate my browsing/reading experience.

We're talking about layouts that prevent you from making the window narrower than 1080 pixels.

Fine, so lots of the websites I read are broken. I still need to read them though.

Nobody should be buying 16:9 monitors for computers to begin with. They aren't suitable.

you mean, nobody should be selling them, but ignorant buyers (== most of the market) look for 'Full HD' sticker instead of actually asking for advice.

i guess somebody should invent a 'Better than Full HD' sticker.