Talking to a brick wall...
Rants & Raves
The Future of the Web
Long ago, there was the World Wide Web, and it was Good. Netscape Navigator was The Browser, and it, also, was Good. Netscape defined HTML as it pleased, and others Followed, and we thought it to be Good.
Then, there were the browser wars. Netscape continued to define HTML
as it pleased, and then Microsoft started to as well. It was good, and
not so good. Somewhere in there, it got so confusing that no one was able
to write the same code for both browsers anymore. Somewhere else in there,
web standards became a big thing.
The big two browsers, though, by and large ignored
this. The fragmentation continued, and things like the Web
Standards Project were born. Soon, the clamor rose to the ears of
the two giants, and standards were ... well, not promised. But considered.
Clamor continued, standards slowly gained support,
and eventually Netscape pledged a fully standards-compliant browser. Microsoft
delivered IE 5.5/Mac, the first complete browser to fully support CSS-1
and some other nice things. On windows though, they continue to support
only what they claim their users are asking for, and Netscape's only latest
complete browser has support of CSS that is so laughable that the WSP
refused to even test it.
Hopefully, sometime in the near future we will be able to look back at
these akward days of web development and laugh. Probably, we'll cry a
little too.
In any case, it is my sincere hope that soon the
day will be upon us when browsers not only innovate, but cooperate. Or,
failing that rather unrealistic possibility, at least they will adhere
to standards that they themselves help to decide on. For only then can
the web really fulfill the potential it has always had.
- In the beginning...
- What, no style?
- The concept of scalability
- But what about the old guys?
- Where we're headed
-=-
For those of you who are a little worried, there was a reason that rant sounded like a LOT of other, very similar articles and docments: I've been reading way, way too many of them. Still, I just thought as long as I am in the mood to speak out for standards, I may as well add my thoughts to the list of enthusiastic articles out there.
This inspiration for this new Rant format, A List Apart has no doubt inspired many a web developer to new heights.
Other ranting, which generally follows the lines of those found here, may also be found at Civilized Pigdom.
For an example of a site which both shows off the power of CSS and also shows how current web design would not work for certain devices, take a good, long look at Kaliber 10000.
Or, if you just don't feel like going anywhere else right now, you're always welcome to go back to the rants page. >>
-=-
This site was designed to be viewed with a W3C standards compliant browser, but should be readable in just about anything. If you find that your experience is less than satisfactory in any way, please let me know and I'll be happy to help.