I find it even harder to write long texts in MS Word as the 16:9 ratio has been widely adopted. The best ratio for DTP, and even writing, is 5:4, I think, and have also read similar statements on the 'nets. The entire page fitted nicely on screen and was easily readable while not really zoomed in, nor when I was sat at a slightly greater distance (and the screen diameter was not even that big.) Now I use a laptop in 1366x768 and it truly hurts my eyes and back to write anything longer in Word (think immense amounts of scrolling when I'm writing fantasy fiction... or managing all the references on the bottom of the page, as is usual in academic writing, at least here in Poland).

It minimises the comfort from having a laptop with a good CPU and an SSD. Widescreen may be good for home cinema or gaming (on a large TV), but is completely not for working on small screens at a small distance. I don't know who's responsible, or are they just too ignorant too think about it, but they could easily produce 5:4 monitors in higher resolution than SXGA and succesfully market it for offices/DTPs/all kinds of nerds. The marketing should introduce the new distinction: an "entertainment screen" for movie and games VS. a "professional screen" for other applications, whatever they actually would call them, if it were to happen.

Sometimes I dream of a wide internet-based counter-16:9 street-level popular reaction that could force the tech giants (or at least entice them) to give people a choice.