Re: [CSS21] 4.3.2 Lengths (reference pixel?)

On Dec 14, 2010, at 5:14 PM, Felix Miata wrote:

> On 2010/12/14 14:27 (GMT-0800) David Singer composed:
>
>> On Dec 14, 2010, at 22:16 (GMT), Linss, Peter wrote:
>
>>> I have yet to see a typical user system come out of the
>>> box since then with accurate on screen measurements.
>
> You've not used many Linux distros over the years.

Not for desktop, daily use systems, no. The same as 99+%* of all other  
web users.

Do you guys want us to break the web for 99%* of the users to satisfy  
the < 1%*?

>
>>> Yes, I could
>>> calibrate it, and often did, but then all sorts of app UIs broke...
>
> Shortsighted and/or ignorant OS, DTE and application developers are
> responsible for that, not PC hardware of the past decade or more.

Agreed, but that's the world we live in. Having accurate measurements  
on screen is actually something I'm personally quite passionate about.  
And I agree that this _should_ be doable, but that doesn't make it the  
norm or practical for the vast majority of web users.

As Tab has said, over time, this will get easier. There's nothing in  
the CSS spec that says 1in can't equal 1" measured on your screen, if  
the hardware, OS and browser support it, it's just not _required_ for  
screen media. As time goes by I expect this to start happening without  
end user intervention. The only thing you're not getting anymore is  
the ability to address 1 device pixel with the px unit, and frankly  
that was never a guarantee from day 1 (and arguably not a good idea in  
general).

Peter

* yes, I'm making that number up to make a point, don't start a debate  
over it, it won't change anything.

Received on Wednesday, 15 December 2010 02:30:17 UTC