Re: [Edbrowse-dev] Non-technical rant

[Chris Brannon <chris@the-brannons.com>]

Chuck Hallenbeck <chuckh@ftml.net> writes:

> But I have become discouraged recently  because the
> moving target we are pursuing seems to be pulling away from us.

I would argue that it has been doing that since about 1995 or so.

> Last summer I decided to abandon the linux world and emigrate to an
> imac system, where there seemed to be a growing community of happy blind
> users.

Deedra has one too.  I made my peace with it, and I use it for browsing
when I have to access fancy sites.
But part of me would sure be glad if I could check my bank balance with
edbrowse.  Perhaps that day is closer than I think?

> For example, Amazon now works extremely well,
> but I can no longer access the third party email service I have used
> for the past fifteen years, due to a change in their user interface.

You've just pointed out one of my major problems with web
applications.  The user interface is subject to change at any moment, at
the sole whim of the developer, with no possibility to downgrade to a
version that you find more acceptable.  In effect, the developer is
dictating to you, and you have no control.
The user interface is tightly coupled to the communication.
Compare this to a non-web-based network service that uses an open
protocol.

Take Usenet for example.   If I want to use Usenet, I can choose among any
number of news readers.  If none of the options suits me for some
reason, I can choose to write my own.
Compare this to a hypothetical web forum, www.hamradioforum.com.  If
I wish to participate in it, I *must* use their user interface.  I
cannot swap it for one that appeals to me.
If their site is edbrowse-friendly, I can at least make the experience a
bit less painless.  If I'm really lucky, hamradioforum.com offers a web
API using JSON and HTTP.  Odds are good that even if they do, it is only
accessible to people who have registered for a developer key.  However,
even if that web API is open for my use, if I write a client against it,
it will most likely only work with hamradioforum.com.  On the other
hand, my Usenet client works with limitless newsgroups on countless
news servers.

I'd argue that one of the fundamental problems of the so-called "modern"
web is the tight coupling between user interface and data transfer.
There's also a severe impedence mismatch, as we are forcing a document
delivery system designed in the early 1990s to serve as some sort of
highly interactive application platform.  It is piles of hacks upon
piles of hacks, rather than sound engineering.  On the other hand, it is
extremely popular, and boat loads of people are making mega bucks doing
it.  So onward we go.

-- Chris