Author here. You'd be surprised how many founders / operators I've spoken to over the past two years who work so hard to avoid discussing cancellations. At the core of it, they're hurt and scared by it. So yeah, it is dramatic. It's a very human phenomenon.
Looks like we use the app differently, which is entirely possible in this world ;) My assumptions were twofold: 1) users would like to scroll and scan quickly (because they're impatient), diving into content to find something that looked interesting to read, and 2) that the inertial scroll literally amplifies that action — potentially getting you something you want, faster.
Flinging the carousel has a playful factor (that you mentioned) and serves to immerse you more into the content. The fact, though, that I have to hurt my thumb to do this is a glaring problem, IMO.
Was that swipe comfortable? Could you scan most of the headlines quickly, or was your thumb covering up most of them?
Paper's story carousel is designed to get you scanning headlines quickly with the inertial scroll. I believe that the current configuration — with its gestural shortcomings — does not ideally accomplish that goal.
Author here: I disagree that one can achieve the same effect by swiping near the center. A middle-to-left swipe on the phone doesn't make use of Paper's exciting physics-driven carousel. I can barely get any inertia swiping from the middle. Even worse, my thumb covers up most of the content and I have to make a "dabbing" motion to see a steady stream of stories.
Your point about reducing the hero image is a very good one. I hadn't thought of that. And even if it's a poor quality image, the content is mostly static and distracts from the entire purpose of the navigation: getting you reading stories.
At best, your enumeration is highly speculative. We can only see the finished products and a little bit behind the curtain (the iOS 7 videos, "Steve Jobs" by Isaacson, etc.) — iOS 7 is a work in progress and we don't know how he currently works, or what sort of "idea shaping" currently goes on.
Also, the headline is just that — a headline. It's to get people thinking or talking about who makes great products, and what constitutes a great product.
He's telling the story of how he got MP3.com. Love it.
"Back in those days all the files were on ftp servers not web servers. Well I saw people searching for "mp3" cause it appeared on the bottom of the top 100 list that we would print out. My biz instinct said "if people are searching for it there must be opportunity."
We are seeing amazing activity all over the world. The key is less about finding a dense area, but to get others around you to use it at the same time to get a whole new experience. You could be in the smallest populated city, but if you got everyone at the party, restaurant, sporting event, it'll be amazing.
We are seeing music festivals, college kids, sporting events, night on the town, etc. uses.