3 ms·

I feel like the web has been getting significantly worse for about 5 to 6 years now (or, heck, 20 years). I have more of a blame list, personally.

bandrami 10y ago
It's curious to me how unpopular this sentiment is here. Are there actually people who think the Web provides a better user experience in 2016 than it did in 2006? I'm frankly baffled at that and would love to hear from somebody who feels that way.
- ng12 10y ago
  People have always made bad, unusable websites. If we wanted to prevent them from doing that we should have never moved away from Gopher. I write SPAs for a living and a lot of the technologies mentioned in this thread are a godsend. Whenever somebody expresses the above sentiment I feel it's only because they never had to maintain a complicated web app.
  - bandrami 10y ago
    they never had to maintain a complicated web app Correct: we used to write websites that were as simple as it was feasible for them to be, with as few client-side requirements as possible. It's the whole idea that "complicated web apps" are good things that I dislike.
    - ng12 10y ago
      Do you think Facebook could exist if we eschewed building complicated things on the web? The alternative is not building a simpler website, it's building desktop applications. Just because some developers choose the wrong tools for the job doesn't mean the tools aren't necessary.
      - bandrami 10y ago
        Sure. For that matter I use the mbasic Facebook view, which has zero client-side processing. Makes for a much better experience.
iagooar 10y ago
I feel quite the opposite. More options, better frontend, more and more lightweight, mature backend frameworks.
- bandrami 10y ago
  But does that actually translate into a better user experience for you? It doesn't seem to for me.
  - iagooar 10y ago
    Indeed, it doesn't. But I think it's not the tools, it's the businesses who do not understand tech, and the engineers, who are not strong enough to say no to random, tight deadlines, accepting worse quality for the sake of shipping.

bandrami 10y ago

It's curious to me how unpopular this sentiment is here. Are there actually people who think the Web provides a better user experience in 2016 than it did in 2006? I'm frankly baffled at that and would love to hear from somebody who feels that way.

ng12 10y ago
People have always made bad, unusable websites. If we wanted to prevent them from doing that we should have never moved away from Gopher. I write SPAs for a living and a lot of the technologies mentioned in this thread are a godsend. Whenever somebody expresses the above sentiment I feel it's only because they never had to maintain a complicated web app.
- bandrami 10y ago
  they never had to maintain a complicated web app Correct: we used to write websites that were as simple as it was feasible for them to be, with as few client-side requirements as possible. It's the whole idea that "complicated web apps" are good things that I dislike.
  - ng12 10y ago
    Do you think Facebook could exist if we eschewed building complicated things on the web? The alternative is not building a simpler website, it's building desktop applications. Just because some developers choose the wrong tools for the job doesn't mean the tools aren't necessary.
    - bandrami 10y ago
      Sure. For that matter I use the mbasic Facebook view, which has zero client-side processing. Makes for a much better experience.

iagooar 10y ago

I feel quite the opposite. More options, better frontend, more and more lightweight, mature backend frameworks.

bandrami 10y ago
But does that actually translate into a better user experience for you? It doesn't seem to for me.
- iagooar 10y ago
  Indeed, it doesn't. But I think it's not the tools, it's the businesses who do not understand tech, and the engineers, who are not strong enough to say no to random, tight deadlines, accepting worse quality for the sake of shipping.