It's archaic design is on purpose just for that reason. It weeds out people that might spam the site (though it doesn't weed EVERYTHING out.) Once you get use'd to the layout, Reddit is a very informative site, full of current events, news, games, funny stuff, and all sorts of things. You can even customize your Front Page to show subreddits that you really enjoy. (Ex. I'm subbed to /r/Halo, /r/MassEffect, /r/drums...) and it will show you everything from those subreddits.
I even have my own subreddit where I post my new videos and news for charity events! /r/BigTinyTimTim