Why is the internet so ugly in Norway?: Swede

In a devastating article in Sweden's DN newspaper, Norström marvels at the VG's huge three-line headlines in Times New Roman, vast empty spaces covering large areas of the page, and constantly changing font sizes. 

 

"You recoil immediately when you see this page," Martin Löfqvist, a Swedish web designer tells him. "It is this sparse typography, it's very ugly." 

 

"I've heard that Norwegian readers want it that way," Martin Aagård, a half Norwegian journalist working at Aftonbladet, adds. "It is not impossible that this expresses some Norwegian conservatism. They want the internet to look like it did in 2004, otherwise it is not real!" 

 

Löfqvist compares DN.se, the slick website of Sweden's Dagens Nyheter to VG.no. 

 

"It's like DN.se is Bo Kaspers Orkester, well-groomed and well-turned-out middle class, VG.no is Basshunter." 

 

Is this an example of Sweden's irritating superiority complex over its now much richer western neighbour, or does Norström have a point?