Web Standards are Dumb?
Syam Kumar April 19, 2004 02:09 AM IST
Quotes from a self-styled professional Web developer who compares web standards with Communist propaganda:
Web standards. They're big, dumb, and they don't work. Yet, they persist. Why?
...These days, the rebel youth aren't so busy admiring Marx as they are giving each other tutorials on how to use XHTML Strict. Bravely battling JavaScript menus and eradicating layout tables, admonishing us to "please think of the children" and design our pages so they're compatible with the handhelds of next century. Same conformist thinking, same lousy outcome.
...Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are a classic example of the madness. Reared in a cubicle somewhere, they're pitched as the pinnacle of document styling. CSS are public, free and future-proof. Sounds great until you realise that: a) you need a degree to understand them; b) Microsoft doesn't care about them; and c) they suck. What's more, CSS have been promoted as "the future" since the mid-90s, and by now the only thing keeping them alive is a steady stream of guilt and the occasional Movable Type installation.
But now I'm fed up. I want the browser wars back. I want to use Flash and PDF (you know, technologies that work) without being accused of bourgeois elitism. Is it really so important to make our Web sites phone-compatible? PDA-compatible? Safe for the flat-footed?
