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...editorial...

state of the web…

The state of the web can at best be caracterized as “confusing”. No, I'm not confused at all, but I didn't create the mess so I guess I'm excused. Those who created it have other excuses, of course.

I think it's actually supposed to be like this: a complete mess. There's a lot of freedom in that, and a lot of money and commercial gain too. Let's leave it as is, and just sort out the pieces we need.

A few questions have to be answered, or ignored:

  • Do we want to prepare for the future, or do we prefer to stay in the past?
  • Does it matter whether people can access our web-contributions, or not?

Presented like above, these simple questions only requires some very simple answers. In reality these questions are most often ignored, because anwering them involves some quite complex thought-processes if the answers shall carry any real values.

legacy…

There's a legacy from the days of success and bust. Legacy browsers are still dominant, so many think that that's the way to go. Personally I don't think so, and here's the reason why:

  • Modern browsers have legacy-modes, also called "quirks modes", so the old stuff isn't lost.
  • Legacy browsers on the other hand; have nothing but legacy-modes, so they are forever lost in the modern world.

It doesn't make sense to be lost in the world we're living in, so I'll leave it to the modern browsers to sort out the past on the world wide web. I prefer to feed them something that works today, and at least is prepared for the world of tomorrow.

preparing for the future…

The future isn't here yet, so I can't really claim to have solved the problems surrounding future-proofing. Nothing we create today is future-proof, and nothing ever will be. That's the dynamics of evolution at play, and nothing can stop evolution — ever.

Access to the future is prepared by watching the evolutionary process, and carefully choose which steps we can and should take today, so we can build on our previous work — tomorrow.

So my solution is to leave the past in the past — make the most out of what I have today — and work on better solutions for tomorrow.

When tomorrow comes it will be today, and the whole process is repeated. That's evolution, and I am part of it. What about you?

based on past experience…

Leaving the past is not the same as forgetting it. No need to discard old knowledge as long as we are able to team it up with new one. I never re-learn anything — I learn more.

Do you know how old the basics behind computers and digital communication are? Go back about 120 years or so, and look for our well-known bits and bytes. They are there in our past, and they haven't changed one bit.

I know how to change our old bits and bytes into something completely different and much more powerful. However; no computing-entity or communication-path is quite ready for such a change yet, so let's not get too far ahead.

The younger generations are familiar with the technology and the world wide web as it is today, but that familiarity may become a limiting factor in their evolution. Most of them will be lost for the future once they start planning ahead, simply because all planning puts limitations on the outcome. Do they know that? Do they care? Well, it's their future.

I'm pretty relaxed about the future, and keep on building on past experience. No plans, as the future may accuire precise actions. Only by adding more knowledge each day can I solve anything in the future — based on past experiences.

evolution on the web…

Not much progress on the web, everything goes in circles. That's part of any natural evolutionary process, so I'm not requesting or expecting a change. However, I'm not accepting any regress, so what little progress there is should be promoted and followed up on.

Don't tell me that there isn't a gain in using the parts of improved design-methods and content delivery processes that are actually working, even if legacy is holding back any real progress at any given time. Evolution can't be held back by legacy, and those who try have already lost.

It doesn't matter to me what they call the stuff they are spitting out as standard and/or non-standard solutions. What's important is whether a solution looks robust enough to survive on a constantly changing internet. That means W3C-standard in most cases, but not always.

I'll pick and choose the pieces I think are any good, and use them as building-blocks in my own evolution. Support isn't my department, so I leave support-problems to those who develop web browser and all sorts of User Agents.

It is not our fault that the bad legacy is still ruling the world wide web. Bad legacy is ruling everything everywhere else, and one day much of what may be seen as progress today, will come back to haunt us as another bad legacy. That's human evolution, and it's a sad story.

which building-blocks to use…

Doesn't really matter as long as we can keep on building on them. I don't want to replace a lot of building-blocks tomorrow, so I'm pretty selective. The rate of progress in all fields tells me which pieces to use, and the legacy tells me which pieces not to use.

This part may lead to added confusion, since much of what proved itself to not work well in the past may work extremely well tomorrow. It depends very much on how it was used—or maybe misused, and how we plan to use them.

Discared methods may become perfect parts of future designs, while methods that are on the rise today, may become pretty much useless and counter-productive once everyone have adjusted to them.

Some methods are best seen as short term solutions, while we wait for some better ones. Their days are numbered, but no good replacements are yet in place. Keep a log on those, and keep looking.

It's a question of knowledge and broad understanding of the context we are presenting our content in. As long as we know what we're doing in a broad sense, then the selection of which exact piece that should go where in our puzzles, becomes a less important issue.

We have more than one choice at every major and minor crossing. Making no choices is of course also an alternative, although a very stupid one. Leaving all choices to others is an even more stupid alternative.

disgraceful degredation…

My web pages don't degrade gracefully in many old legacy browsers. In fact; I don't invest any interest in how my web pages perform outside the most modern browsers, although I do get reports from time to time.

My responce is, as always: “my web pages don't degrade in any old browser—old browsers degrades them. Any complaints must be addressed to the browser-maker in question. Maybe it's time for an upgrade...”

I'm referring to old browsers in my responces. Doesn't matter which brand, as I see no point in testing progressive web solutions in any but the very latest versions of any browsers.

Even some of the latest browser-versions are hopelessly lost when given progressive code, and disgraceful degredation is still being released on the market by legacy-limited browser-makers.

We all have to make choices, and I've chosen not to support browsers that perform disgraceful degredation on modern and progressive web design solutions — no matter the browser-brand.

The logic is simple: if the new browser-versions do it right across the board, then the old browsers are to blame for their own failures. It can't be the other way around.

personal evolution…

I'm a content engineer, working partly on the edge of web design, and partly way, way back in the past. If I get my act together, then no one will ever notice the solutions involved.

If it doesn't work then that's my problem, and I'll fix it. If it does work, then I'll probably just start over again and try something else.

All this goes on in the name of progress—my own. I share knowledge and information with others, but I'll never ever make any choices for anyone else but myself. I watch evolution and look after my own…

I'm always serious in what I do, but it sure is fun to watch the state of the world wide web. Think I'll stick to my term “serious fun”, as it really says all there is to say about the matter.

sincerely  georg; sign

Hageland 01.may.2004
last rev: 02.may.2005


additions...

famous quotes:

If it does work, then I'll probably just start over again and try something else.
— Georg

quotes:

mess:
2. chaotic state: a chaotic, confused, or troublesome state or situation
— msnEncarta

legacy:
2. something from past: something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time
— msnEncarta

legacy:
outdated or discontinued: associated with something that is outdated or discontinued
— msnEncarta

evolution:
3. gradual development: the gradual development of something into a more complex or better form
— msnEncarta

accepting:
uncomplaining: able to endure something difficult or unpleasant without complaint or protest
— msnEncarta

serious:
8. dedicated to something: showing great interest in or commitment to an endeavor, skill, or pastime
— msnEncarta

fun:
2. something amusing: something such as an activity that provides enjoyment or amusement
— msnEncarta

regress:
1. movement backward: a going backward, especially from a more advanced or better state to a less advanced or worse one
— msnEncarta

progress:
1. improvement: gradual development or improvement of something
— msnEncarta

disgraceful:
very bad or unacceptable: so bad or unacceptable that it is something to be ashamed of
— msnEncarta

degradation:
5. process of decline: the process by which a decline in quality or performance is brought about
— msnEncarta

context:
1. text surrounding a word or passage: the words, phrases, or passages that come before and after a particular word or passage in a speech or piece of writing and help to explain its full meaning
— msnEncarta

context:
2. surrounding conditions: the circumstances or events that form the environment within which something exists or takes place
— msnEncarta

content (1):
2. subject matter: the various issues, topics, or questions dealt with in speech, discussion, or a piece of writing
— msnEncarta

content engineer:
Web site information specialist: somebody whose job is to oversee the selection, structure, and presentation of information on a Web site
— msnEncarta

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