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Browser diversity keeps the Web deliberately slow Would a single browser make the Web fast? No, it wouldn't. If Microsoft Explorer had won and locked down user
by CalChris 6y ago
Browser diversity keeps the Web deliberately slow
Would a single browser make the Web fast? No, it wouldn't. If Microsoft Explorer had won and locked down users and websites, would the Web today be fast? No, the Web would not be fast.
Are there fast websites? Yes, I'm typing into one. I think the reason the web is slow is feature creep by both browsers and websites. Diversity is not the problem. Complexity is the problem.
- politician 6y agoThe article is talking about the rate of change of the specs, not the speed of loading a page.
- CalChris 6y agoBrowser diversity keeps the Web deliberately slow It is very difficult to parse that sentence and come to your conclusion. I'll grant you, the author talks about innovation as well, but not in that sentence. You're free to mark it up to bad reading but perhaps it is bad writing.
- stickfigure 6y agoThankfully, the article is longer than that single sentence.
- frissonlabs 6y agoYes, based on that sentence alone, it would be ambiguous. But the author expanded on this with a whole section clarifying what he meant, which is about the rate of feature development and adoption. Not sure if you missed it, but it starts with "I think the Web platform’s most frustrating aspect is also its greatest asset: it’s slow. It’s not just slow, it’s “it took 10 years1 to ship the <main> element which is just a spicy <div>” kind of slow. It’s glacial."
- CalChris 6y agoIf the author wants to conflate speed of the web with speed of innovation, that’s on them.
- andrewem 6y agoI think that sentence is misleading, and also that the author eventually gets around to making their meaning clear in the later section headed "Slow, like brisket." That section expands on the somewhat opaque initial formulation.
- microtherion 6y agoYes, that was my reading of "slow" as well, but ironically, GP's point applies under that reading as well: When Microsoft dominated the web, the pace of spec evolution slowed down as well.
- onion2k 6y agoThe difference between Chrome and IE is that IE didn't really benefit Microsoft in a noticeable way. They had no incentive to improve it once they had a monopoly. Chrome being faster, better and more feature-rich makes users stay in their browsers longer which benefits Google directly (which some might argue is actually a bad thing). But still, Google would have an incentive to not let Chrome stagnant even if they had 100% of the market.
- dblohm7 6y agoIE greatly benefitted Microsoft: My holding the web back, it ensured the continued dominance of desktop applications.