> Fair enough but these rants on HN about publishers never seem to contain any examples of publications that are both successful and delivering pages that weigh scarcely more than their plain text equivalent.
Examples would be the same publications 10 or 20 years ago. They weren't exactly plain text but they were a lot lighter and the content has not improved measurably in that time.
I don't care about examples from 10 or 20 years ago, I want examples from the current market.
Minitel isn't a publication? I'm familiar with Minitel, I've read a book on it, but I don't know what you're trying to insinuate by linking it here in a discussion about publishing.
Also, "still going strong?" Minitel was discontinued, in 2012. Because France has the modern internet now.
Examples would be the same publications 10 or 20 years ago. They weren't exactly plain text but they were a lot lighter and the content has not improved measurably in that time.
Here's one from the 70's that's still going: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel