Post by nocturnal YL on Dec 5, 2016 14:30:29 GMT
Long, boring rant ahead.
I'm something of a fan of consumer technology. Or maybe not, since I'm not enthusiastic enough to take part in newer things. What I do have is a lot of rants involving various technologies. Things like:
XHTML2 > HTML5
Markdown > HTML in general
YAML > JSON > XML (for small objects, like installation info)
LCD > newer displays that look sharper but are more prone to screen burn
Gradients, 3D and drop shadow > flat design
Most other modern programming languages > JavaScript (why isn't WebAssembly a thing now?)
Most other modern programming languages > PHP
Vivaldi > major browsers
The theme here is that popular things are awful. I suppose this reflects my opinion on other things, but it's technology where this is most apparent.
(I originally typed the rant below, but it may feel too disorganized.)
Web technology
People call web development an ever-changing environment, but all I see are slow changes with the fundamentals not growing much.
JavaScript was an awful language designed to give non-programmers an easy time, andthat somehow rolled into being the language of the web. Hack after hacks were added in attempt to make JavaScript more tolerable, but considerations to introduce a more low-level web language has only begun to sprout in form of WebAssembly. Even though it should have been the standard since half a decade ago.
There are far more examples. PHP is a poor server language choice, but it seems to be popular for some reason. HTML is too verbose and the tags are confusing. XML shouldn't be used when JSON or YAML is sufficient. The list goes on and on.
Browser (non-)war
Likewise, browser competions show sign of slowing down. There are only four major rendering engines (EdgeHTML, Gecko, Webkit, Blink) today, and browsers now fight with parts unrelated to rendering (things like Edge annotation and Firefox extensions don't affect interoperability).
Advanced, highly customizable browsers like Opera have become a thing in the past (with spiritual successor Vivaldi still trying to play catch up).
Modern web and app design
When everyone tries to look modern, you end up looking generic instead. This may be good for non-tech-savvy users since they have less time to learn new stuff, but to me, it just makes the tech world a more boring place. Flat everything is just a plain waste of hardware power.
Inferior hardware
For some reasons, starting with Samsung, hardware manufacturers are pushing AMOLED displays rather aggressively. While they do provide good image quality, they're also suspectible to screen burn and generally have a shorter lifespan. I wouldn't want something like this on my computers.
Or put it more generally, vendors and service providers seem to be following trends just for the sake of it. This is taken to extremes, often leaving consumers with few choices.
Everything is a work-in-progress
People complain that modern games often ship unfinished. That's awful.
And then we have Windows. To be fair, after a few updates, Windows 10 feels fine for the most part. But it's also really inconsistent. System icons use the Microsoft Design Language style (flat, in other words), but accessories and administrative tools still retain the Windows Vista Aero style, unchanged for more than a year since Windows 10's first release. Rumours have that Microsoft will renew the Windows UI in late 2017, but one wonders what took them so long in the first place.
Other offenders include Adobe (with suite-wide changes apply at different paces, so InDesign 2017 looks nothing like Illustrator 2017) and various game engine vendors.
Dropped features and software
There is no way to get the best version of anything, simply because features are often mutually exclusive. The dropped features are often not popular, but considered useful for some.
Also bad is the discontinuation of software, espcially if for individual tools of larger packs. PhotoDraw 2000, Fireworks CS6, SoftImage 2015 and so on. In some cases, replacemesnts cannot cover the functionality of the discontinued software.
I'm something of a fan of consumer technology. Or maybe not, since I'm not enthusiastic enough to take part in newer things. What I do have is a lot of rants involving various technologies. Things like:
XHTML2 > HTML5
Markdown > HTML in general
YAML > JSON > XML (for small objects, like installation info)
LCD > newer displays that look sharper but are more prone to screen burn
Gradients, 3D and drop shadow > flat design
Most other modern programming languages > JavaScript (why isn't WebAssembly a thing now?)
Most other modern programming languages > PHP
Vivaldi > major browsers
The theme here is that popular things are awful. I suppose this reflects my opinion on other things, but it's technology where this is most apparent.
(I originally typed the rant below, but it may feel too disorganized.)
Web technology
People call web development an ever-changing environment, but all I see are slow changes with the fundamentals not growing much.
JavaScript was an awful language designed to give non-programmers an easy time, andthat somehow rolled into being the language of the web. Hack after hacks were added in attempt to make JavaScript more tolerable, but considerations to introduce a more low-level web language has only begun to sprout in form of WebAssembly. Even though it should have been the standard since half a decade ago.
There are far more examples. PHP is a poor server language choice, but it seems to be popular for some reason. HTML is too verbose and the tags are confusing. XML shouldn't be used when JSON or YAML is sufficient. The list goes on and on.
Browser (non-)war
Likewise, browser competions show sign of slowing down. There are only four major rendering engines (EdgeHTML, Gecko, Webkit, Blink) today, and browsers now fight with parts unrelated to rendering (things like Edge annotation and Firefox extensions don't affect interoperability).
Advanced, highly customizable browsers like Opera have become a thing in the past (with spiritual successor Vivaldi still trying to play catch up).
Modern web and app design
When everyone tries to look modern, you end up looking generic instead. This may be good for non-tech-savvy users since they have less time to learn new stuff, but to me, it just makes the tech world a more boring place. Flat everything is just a plain waste of hardware power.
Inferior hardware
For some reasons, starting with Samsung, hardware manufacturers are pushing AMOLED displays rather aggressively. While they do provide good image quality, they're also suspectible to screen burn and generally have a shorter lifespan. I wouldn't want something like this on my computers.
Or put it more generally, vendors and service providers seem to be following trends just for the sake of it. This is taken to extremes, often leaving consumers with few choices.
Everything is a work-in-progress
People complain that modern games often ship unfinished. That's awful.
And then we have Windows. To be fair, after a few updates, Windows 10 feels fine for the most part. But it's also really inconsistent. System icons use the Microsoft Design Language style (flat, in other words), but accessories and administrative tools still retain the Windows Vista Aero style, unchanged for more than a year since Windows 10's first release. Rumours have that Microsoft will renew the Windows UI in late 2017, but one wonders what took them so long in the first place.
Other offenders include Adobe (with suite-wide changes apply at different paces, so InDesign 2017 looks nothing like Illustrator 2017) and various game engine vendors.
Dropped features and software
There is no way to get the best version of anything, simply because features are often mutually exclusive. The dropped features are often not popular, but considered useful for some.
Also bad is the discontinuation of software, espcially if for individual tools of larger packs. PhotoDraw 2000, Fireworks CS6, SoftImage 2015 and so on. In some cases, replacemesnts cannot cover the functionality of the discontinued software.