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Turning the pageI was talking with an old friend of mine today who is a graphics designer from long before the days of personal computers. His tools were tape, pencils, a slanted table and a brush to deal with the eraser shavings. We were discussing the current state of web design. Regular readers will note that I am a big fan of simple web pages that download blindingly fast. I am NOT a fan of sites that have tons of graphics, images, fancy buttons, etc. that simply slow pages down to a crawl. Obviously, pages that are specifically designed to show photographs don't count. I'm planning my own of that particular genre, but that's another column. I've met many a web designer that felt that if the technology allowed him or her to do something, then by gum, they were gonna DO it! Who cares if it takes over a minute to download a page at anything less than T1 speeds? Let's load up that page with lots of cool stuff that will knock the socks of the visitor...once. As my friend and I were talking, it occurred to me what web designers are trying to do. They are attempting to make that vertical screen you're staring at right now do everything that a book will do. They are trying to duplicate the effect of browsing through a glossy, picture, and advertising-filled magazine. However, they're destined for failure. They can add multi-media effects to a page, they can make GIF's spin and whirr, but they can't create one effect. One that you and I can easily do with any "ink on paper" document in the world. We can turn a page - quickly - and instantly see a whole, new, graphics-rich document. And that is the fundamental difference. The more webmasters layer on the technology to make web pages beautiful, the more they make it tougher to turn the pages. I actually stay away from sites that are slow, if I'm familiar with them, or that I think are going to be slow, if I'm not. For example, I love movies, but I rarely hit a movie or entertainment oriented web site. It just takes too long. I can read an entire paper copy of TV Guide, before I'm be able to download the first page of their web site. My objective with Gadwall.com has been to make the pages "easy" to turn. The site may be "ugly," but man, you can flip the pages!
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