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- in-browser chat - Google Docs - infinite scrolling (of course someone is going to say infinite scroll is a bad thing but it's clearly desirable to some) -

- in-browser chat - Google Docs - infinite scrolling (of course someone is going to say infinite scroll is a bad thing but it's clearly desirable to some) - input validation (before I click submit I can know that eg my desired username isn't taken) - others All of these need Flash or JS. For such a technically inclined community I'm always amazed at how folks on Hacker News insist that the Web remain a circa 1990s document browsing system.

TeMPOraL 11y ago
What's so surprising about it? That when I seek to learn information, I want to learn information in the most efficient way, instead of being slowed down by having to deal with all the artsy bullshit some designer put on the site? That, when learning, I don't like to be upsold shitty products and services I don't even need or care about? That when I seek to buy a product, I want a product that has a best price/value tradeoff for me and that I want to be done quick with it? Ignoring your first two bullets, which pertain to web applications - something completely different than web pages - you've just about listed the proper uses for JavaScript. Most of the JS out there is at best gratuitous design, and at worst actively user-hostile crap. Just visit a few random pages you use and ask yourself, how many JavaScript-powered features are there to actually help you achieve your goal in an efficient manner? Probably close to zero. Most websites are not designed with user's benefit in mind. They are designed to trick and exploit them. When 99.9% of the page size is hostile bullshit that only wastes electricity by spinning your CPU fan, you're really asking why so many people here ask for the pre-JS Internet back? The "circa 1990s document browsing system" may have been poorer in visual features, but it was much better a system than what we have today.

TeMPOraL 11y ago

What's so surprising about it? That when I seek to learn information, I want to learn information in the most efficient way, instead of being slowed down by having to deal with all the artsy bullshit some designer put on the site? That, when learning, I don't like to be upsold shitty products and services I don't even need or care about? That when I seek to buy a product, I want a product that has a best price/value tradeoff for me and that I want to be done quick with it? Ignoring your first two bullets, which pertain to web applications - something completely different than web pages - you've just about listed the proper uses for JavaScript. Most of the JS out there is at best gratuitous design, and at worst actively user-hostile crap. Just visit a few random pages you use and ask yourself, how many JavaScript-powered features are there to actually help you achieve your goal in an efficient manner? Probably close to zero. Most websites are not designed with user's benefit in mind. They are designed to trick and exploit them. When 99.9% of the page size is hostile bullshit that only wastes electricity by spinning your CPU fan, you're really asking why so many people here ask for the pre-JS Internet back? The "circa 1990s document browsing system" may have been poorer in visual features, but it was much better a system than what we have today.