Ignoring the security implications, I miss kb large old raw html websites that loaded instantly on DSL internet. Nowadays shit is too fancy because hardware allows that, but I feel we’re just constantly running into more bugs first and then worry about them later.
Edit: I’ve thought more about it, and I think I just missed the simplicity of the internet back then. There’s just too much bloat these days with ad trackers and misinformation. I kinda forgot just how bright and eye jarring most old UIs were lol.
Not that unpopular an opinion I bet.
Google thinks otherwise :(
Unfortunately, Google is also complicit in this
The Google front page is no longer plain HTML but apparently, they spent a lot of time optimising the logo so it could load in less than a second on a dial-up connection. It’s still remarkably plain when compared to other search engines though.
I saw a web page from 1999 today and as a full stack dev I immediately clicked away bc obvi NSFW
BUT then I had the urge to go back to this simple ass web “site” and just admire it for a second like “wow, someone probably spent weeks on this 2 day design”.
Tbh afterwards I was kind of in awe that every option was available on each page with no sidebars or extra clicks. Not slick but quick tho!
There was a design/development company which made sites and they bragged about making pixel perfect web sites. I can’t for the life of me find them again but I remember when I saw their portfolio it was like porn for web developers. Everything was done simply and with least amount of images possible, but it looked so good.
Ignoring the security implications.
There are literally none with basic html.
It’s when you started adding shit like Shockwave, javascript and the like, all massive security holes, things got dicey.
Plain old HTML, none what so ever.
My friend, enjoy.
I was expecting this motherfucking website
Thank you
Funny how sluggish browser feels on these old sites. I guess it would be obvious considering they try to optimize loading and rendering speeds based on trends and developer habits which didn’t exist back then, but still I would have thought simple HTML with monochrome background and very limited number of tags would load instantly.
Wow that was a beautiful journey
A prophet in these troubled times.
Find the right webring, and you’d hit a treasure trove of content. Dig a little deeper and find something even more interesting. The pre-corporate takeover internet.
We talk about enshittification ruining everything, but Facebook and Web 2.0 started ripping out the heart of the internet. Everyone went along with it, and corporate claws sunk in. The fun internet got pushed aside for the ad-friendly internet.
I mean, there are basically no security implications for plain html.
Oh, I just thought older websites were less secure. But I guess now that I think about it, you only got viruses if you clicked on the sketchy links yourself.
Speaking as a web developer - sorry.
No need. As someone who understands web development enough to know I know nothing about web development, it makes sense to me why the internet is what it is today. It’s all about establishing a brand and identity now so doing extra things can make you stand out.
While YouTube has gotten more sluggish over the years, I do think some recent changes like ambient mode have been pretty cool. I also support reasonable hardware requirements because things get obsolete over time.
I guess I just miss the simplicity of early internet browsing more compared to all the bloat that exists today.
Soorrryyyy
I miss kb large old raw html websites that loaded instantly on DSL internet
Instantly? We had very different DSL connections 😳
What would stop an individual or company nowadays to build a pure html website? Isn’t this what a “static site” is?
Isn’t this what HUGO and Jekyll produce, only a little bit prettier?
Nothing. Warren Buffetts company Berkshire Hathaway has the most simple business’s site of all time.
https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
The fault is a combination of execs wanting a slick site, marketing wanting a highly SEO scoring page, and Devs wanting to play with web frameworks.
Hey, they even have an old-school tracker-free static advertisement image on that page. Now that’s a classic.
I’d love to know how much they paid for it. Even part of the “message from warren” page too. Must have been a pretty penny. I bet a lot of pages would love to do static links in exchange for upfront fees similar to it.
Geico is owned by them, so they may not have to pay.
Today I learned. Good point, thanks. Wonder why they chose to highlight it over the others. Must have a good conversion rate comparatively.
Found this list of assets owned by Berkshire Hathaway to be more than I knew, especially at 100% ownership: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Berkshire_Hathaway
Table-based layout, that shit is ancient. We used to build websites this way >20years ago ^^ Mainly because IE was too stupid for anything else.
I distinctly remember when designers got a hard on for rounded corners and IE couldn’t render them. So we ended up making a 9 cell table for each element that was suppose to have rounded corners and loaded images which repeated themselves. Indulging IE users, which were plenty, was such a pain.
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I dont think that usability or acessibility gets so much in the way. It’s more about thinking webpages as applications instead of documents. Plain html is easier for screenreaders and larger fonts. You can also get responsive with very little css.
Simplicity is just not the goal anymore.
So essentially what you are saying is getting in between people and smaller, simpler and faster loading sites is convinience and other people?
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I don’t have any real knowledge of html but I have a vague memory about reading an article where it was mentioned there was a very simple way for a website to “ask” what was the available resolution and fit itself to it in human friendly format.
When comes to manually zooming in or out - especially when on a smartphone - on a webpage, I admit I prefer it. It had a very short learning curve and it transmits a cleaner feeling of interacting with the website instead of having whatever it may be running behind the scenes shifting and adjusting the focus to some random point I have no interest on.
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You mention wikipedia and that is one site where regardless being essentialy text, pages can take immense time to load.
I respect the efforts to make things more accessible but there is the feeling that much more effort goes towards fluff and eye-candy than real, tangible, improvement.
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Try this: https://makefrontendshitagain.party/
Neocities!
Maybe you’ll appreciate https://spacehey.com/
This web thing is okay, but it will never replace Gopher.
You can still use old Gmail. I do. It’s fast. It has no ads. It’s amazing.
I got some bad news for you: https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/25/google-is-killing-gmails-basic-html-view-in-2024/
I like using email client software instead. It just uses Gmail as a backend and the inbox looks however I want it to look.
Plus, it works while offline on the train or with Amtrak’s shitty WiFi
Everything is a transpiled Rract SPA loaded with trackers …want to read your neighbors blog? Suck these hundreds trackers …
