Re: The Final Word on Browsers and the Future

Scott E. Preece wrote:
++ 
++  From: "Abigail" <abigail@ny.fnx.com>
++ | Wrong. It doesn't matter how I get the TV program. Either by cable, by
++ | satellite or a broadcast network. And it doesn't matter for the broadcast
++ | company either. It doesn't even matter if I have a 6"B&W tv or a 3 yard
++ | wall projection. I will still get the same program.
++ | (Yes, there will be HDTV, which is incompatible. I don't know the situation
++ |  in the USA, but in Europe, the planned transition period is something
++ |  like 15 to 20 _years_. And that is if they ever decide that HDTV will
++ |  be the new standard.)
++ ---
++ 
++ To ask a question I asked before, do you think it offensive (in the
++ sense that started this discussion) that TV programs display notices at
++ the beginning saying they are in color and/or have stereo sound and/or
++ closed-captioning, even though some people lack the technology to enjoy
++ those features?

It's not offensive. But they don't say 'best viewed with a 15" foobar
tvset'. They say (although it doesn't add anything, or help anyone) it
is in stereo, or has colours. Webpages say 'best viewed with foobar
browser version x', in stead of 'this page contains tables', or 'i
didn't bother supplying alt attributes'.

++ This kind of incompatibility happens *all the time* in the normal,
++ non-Web world.  The relative immaturity of the Web makes it much more
++ prone to rapid obsolescence.  Five years from now I expect Web
++ technology to be much more stable (actually, that the instability will
++ happen in invisible and non-disruptive ways), but today it's like a
++ two-year-old infant, outgrowing its clothes every few months.  This is
++ *good*, despite it being somewhat painful for the budget in the
++ meantime.

I don't think it is good at all, _specially_not_for_the_web_. The whole
idea of the web is get to rid of all the incompatabilities. But now,
there's hardly anything more incompatable than the web.

BTW, the web is about 6 years old. If it took that long to get to
infant status, it'll take another 60 before it's mature. Not a very
comfortable prospect.



Abigail

Received on Tuesday, 22 October 1996 01:27:42 UTC