(Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day.

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ChrisGreaves
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(Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day.

Post by ChrisGreaves »

I confess to growing irascible (to the point of being obstreperous) by web designers who can’t leave well alone.

Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day.

Used to be I could be referred to an interesting article, save it to my hard drive, and study it at my leisure.

Nowadays online newspapers seem to go out of their way to please the SmartPhone crowd to the point that (this morning) five downloads of one article (from five different news sources) produced two unreadable results.
Where I come from we call that a forty-percent failure rate.

The 4MB file at www.ChrisGreaves.com/Downloads/WebPages.zip has three separate web pages.
The set in “LoadsWell” loads just fine in my Firefox 40.0.3
The set in “LoadsAdWillClose” loads just fine after an annoying ten second delay for an ad that shows neither when I am connected or disconnected from WiFi.
The set in “LosesContent” loses its content. The content is there because when I right-click and choose OpenWith MSWord(2003) I can read the article.
Word 2003 fer heaven's sake!

I’m having trouble understanding why web page design has spiralled out of control to the point where what should be an easy to save/read format written in a common language has now split into cults, sects, splinter groups and if I go on I'll probably get a call tomorrow from the CIA.

OK. I forgot the ranton and rantoff tags again.

See also my post about a (to me) brand new SVG format.

(signed) “same old Grump of Toronto”
An expensive day out: Wallet and Grimace

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Jay Freedman
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by Jay Freedman »

Chris, it isn't so much the web designers as the advertising managers who are driving this bus. The web is increasingly becoming divided into two main camps, those sites that are behind pay walls and those that nag us senseless with intrusive advertising. The no-cost/no-ads part of the web has shrunk to insignificance. (Apologies to the Lounge for that characterization, but I wouldn't be here if it were otherwise.)

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DaveA
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by DaveA »

But Chris,
They do NOT want you to "save/read" later. You are wanted to read NOW as the news will change in a few. You are wanted to be connected all the time.

Many of the sites that I get links to by email or Facebook, do not function right or takes forever to load, on my Kindle. I am getting to be a Grumpy Old Guy tired of wasting his time on these sites.
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by ChrisGreaves »

Jay Freedman wrote:Chris, it isn't so much the web designers as the advertising managers who are driving this bus.
I was hoping to read "over the cliff" in there somewhere.
The web is increasingly becoming divided into two main camps, those sites that are behind pay walls and those that nag us senseless with intrusive advertising. The no-cost/no-ads part of the web has shrunk to insignificance. (Apologies to the Lounge for that characterization, but I wouldn't be here if it were otherwise.)
I agree.
The sad part is that I am less and less inclined to visit news articles on Toronto Star or Toronto Sun (our local parrot-cage liners) because they seem to cater only to tablet-holders.
Please see also my response to DaveA
Cheers
Chris
An expensive day out: Wallet and Grimace

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by ChrisGreaves »

DaveA wrote:You are wanted to read NOW as the news will change in a few.
I disagree, Dave. The bulk of whatever I would consider investing time in consists of editorials, opinions, letters-to-the etc.
It happens here on Eileen's Lounge when there appears a post that I feel warrants a chunk of my attention to digest. Regardless of whether or not I have a WiFi connection, I want to save to hard drive and then read when my mind is clear, perhaps first thing in the morning.
I am getting to be a Grumpy Old Guy tired of wasting his time on these sites.
I could be a More Antagonised Grumpy Old Guy, then we could start a blog GogAndMagog. :evilgrin:
An expensive day out: Wallet and Grimace

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DaveA
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by DaveA »

Let me put this way, the browser that came with my Kindle, which is getting old and I think there has been two newer versions, do not function right or takes forever to load. Yes some sites are designed for "Todays" smart phones and tablets, but not for some dumb phones and etc.

When you get the "GogAndMagog" blog going, I will do what I need to join in! :evilgrin:
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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ChrisGreaves
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Re: (Rant) Web pages are becoming more unreadable day by day

Post by ChrisGreaves »

DaveA wrote:... I think there has been two newer versions, do not function right or takes forever to load. Yes some sites are designed for "Todays" smart phones and tablets, ...
Right.
If I were using Firefox Firefox 3.6.14 I would concede that I should "get with the program", but 40.0.3 is failry recent, and still pages cause problems.

Actually I suspect it is not my browser as much as the web sites which are assuming that only people who are online want to read the paper in its electronic form.
That's on a par with a library that loans out eBooks but insists that you read them ONLY while in the library ...

Cheers
Chris
An expensive day out: Wallet and Grimace