After The Bee unveiled its new paper a few days ago – narrower, reorganized and dramatically redesigned – readers by the hundreds called or e-mailed their reaction.

The verdict?

Well for the most part, in almost equal numbers, people either love it or hate it.

For each comment saying the paper had hit bottom and was abandoning its longtime readers, there was a corresponding one praising the new look and saying the paper had taken a positive step forward.

"Oh, how we hate change," e-mailed Sue A. Hall, "but, oh, how I love the new format/ layout/width/type style/pretty much everything. The Bee has done a great job of updating the paper and I really like it."

"I am disappointed," wrote Mike Hardesty of Davis. "(The) Bee can be classified as 'news lite.' Like its beer namesakes, it looks like a newspaper, but it is a bit thin and without much serious substance. Short on news, long on ads and not to my liking. I have been a Bee reader for three decades or more. I hope this improves, but I won't wait for very long."

The strangest and most perplexing feedback of all was whether the paper was harder to read.

Most of those complaining said the type size was too small, particularly for older readers. At the same time, many of the compliments said the paper was easier to read, including from overjoyed older readers.

The difference of opinion makes you wonder if they were all reading the same newspaper.

For the record, the type size did not change, though things such as photo captions, for example, are no longer all in boldface type but are lighter.

"I usually don't need reading glasses to read the paper," said Sally Kirby in her e-mail, "but this morning, I had to go get my glasses before I could read it. … A magnifying glass should be distributed with each subscription."

"Special kudos from all the seniors (who) were very much in need of an easier read," Rita Galluzzo's e-mail said. "I've been reading The Bee for 60 years and I greatly appreciate these changes. … Your changes have made it possible to really enjoy my paper again."

Some readers criticized the "busy" look of the redesign, likening it derisively to a local version of USAToday with all the added news briefs, summaries and teasers highlighting top stories, many of them placed in long, narrow columns called rails.

By far, however, the No. 1 criticism was that the new all-color comics were too hard to read because the lettering was too small, especially for some cartoon strips such as Doonesbury.

"The print is so small on the comics page that I can hardly see it," said Whitney Donnelly in a comment repeated by many others. "Seems you made the page small and the same time put more items on the page, resulting in something I can't see."

Well, Whitney, the editors feel your pain, too, said managing editor Joyce Terhaar, and agree that some of the comics are, indeed, too small, so changes are afoot to make them larger and easier to read. The eventual transformation, though, may take a little while, she said.

Here are a few more areas where changes already have occurred, or will, in reaction to feedback:

• Sudoku:

The popular numbers game was initially printed in the middle of the page, making it difficult for players to fold into a manageable size.

The game was moved to the bottom of the page.

• The baseball page and sports TV listings:

More major league games will be highlighted and league leaders will be put back in, said sports editor Bill Bradley. Lines were restored to the TV listing to separate different programs, and the Tennis Channel will be included.

• Stock listings:

Because of a glitch, listings for several local companies – including The McClatchy Co. – were left off the new stock page. They have been added back, said business editor Wayne Davis.

• Opinion pages:

Questions were asked about changes, which include having two syndicated columnists instead of three and the columns being shorter, said editorial pages editor David Holwerk.

The paper dropped columns by Paul Greenberg and David Ignatius and added ones by Rich Lowry and Kathleen Parker.

An existing element called the Daily Debate, consisting mainly of snippets from columnists at other papers, has been expanded.

And the word count for letters to the editor, now a maximum of 200, soon will be lowered to a number not yet determined.

One area that received almost a universal thumbs-up was obituaries, now larger and easier to read.

"Liked the new Bee!!" wrote Leslie McNeil of Rocklin, including "the Irish sports page – obits!!!!"

There's one thing, though, that didn't change. The ink still stains your hands.

The Public Editor deals with complaints and concerns about The Sacramento Bee's content. His opinions are his own. You can contact the Public Editor by mail at P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852; or by calling him directly at (916) 321-1250.