Paddy Donnelly has a nice write up about the lingering dogma of the fold. His point, with enough room left in 120 characters for a shortened URL, is this: The virtues of keeping relevant content above the fold are no longer.

This is probably something we've all realized, but it's nice to have a clear write-up that details just why this is the case. It's also something worth keeping at hand to try and reason with client-cum-designers, as Paddy recognizes. Here he is:

We all know, people have learned to scroll. They did a long time ago, but still the 'everything needs to be above the fold' concept lingers on.

Many web designers, after presenting a site design, hear the client worriedly ask 'But, where is the fold?!' Your first response is usually to switch on the guides in Photoshop to show and they then nervously say 'Hmm, yeah, we're going to need those articles, and those links, and those 6 images all above the fold.'

And there goes any sense of white space, readability and story telling you had planned for their site.

(On a personal note, this is also good news for us, since by the time you're reading this, it's almost certainly below the fold.)