Re: Proposal for the WebPerf Workshop: Client-Hints for better server-side content adaption

On Wed, Oct 17, 2012 at 5:01 PM, Ilya Grigorik <igrigorik@google.com> wrote:

>
> *Problem*: adapting site content based on device DPI, screen size, etc,
> incurs additional latency and hides resources from the client (when done
> via JS).
>

Could you elaborate on this?

The Web is designed so that the server provides a description of the data,
and the client adapts it for use according to its own characteristics. This
can be augmented by providing explicit hints, as in CSS; in extreme cases,
these hints can even be driven by media queries to explicitly style things
differently in different contexts. Features exist both in HTML and CSS to
pick appropriate resources based on screen pixel density, without JS and
without additional latency.

I don't understand why this incurs additional latency or hides resources,
or why JS is needed.

-- 
Ian Hickson