Rands explains why you can't read this page
Whenever a web site chooses to embrace a technology which is not standard in older browsers, they are opening a significant can of worms regarding compatibility. The fact of the matter is that a lot people are teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown each time they turn their computer on… you’ve met these people… they come up to you in the hallway and say, "Something’s weird with my computer." Incidentally, these people are the reason why your favorite tech support or IT person is such a complete asshole. He/she has to discern usable fact from a statement such as, "It just stopped working". Such inanity would drive anyone bonkers.
Because many websites are dependent on attracting as large of population
as possible, they need to assure themselves that their websites will work
for these techno-illiterates. The catch, of course, is that to tru
ly
build the whizbang brain dead features they need to attract everyone,
it’s efficient to build such features with reasonably new technology.
Suddenly, you find yourself writing writing massive amounts of code to account for every type of browser out there and DON’T FORGET YOU ALSO NEED TO TEST YOUR WORK which means installing Netscape 3.0 ON A MAC CLASSIC HELLO WILL SOMEONE PLEASE PRESS THE EJECT BUTTON NOW — I’D LIKE TO LEAVE THE 1990s.
There is a simple way to force the issue and this is the strategy I’m employing with this site. I will make every effort to make sure that the code which comprises this site obeys popular standards. I will spend time to create a design which is reasonably easy to read while remaining moderately stylish. And when I receive an e-mail saying, ‘Your site looks weird’, I will calmly reply, ‘My site uses style sheets. A popular means of formatting web pages which has been around since 1996. As your browser does not appear to support style sheets, I am going to guess that you are either a blind Lynx user or a fucking idiot. Please advise, -rands’
I realize this comes off as "elitist prick", but the fact of the matter is that people are only going to move forward when it’s too painful to stay where they are.
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Previously: Rands talks about "JERKCITY", pt. 1
Next Up: Rands is still talking about these fucking t-shirts