Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Sebastian Thrun: Google's Driverless Car
Firefox Friday: the homogenization of browsers and the death of innovation
Whatever happened to being different?Once upon a time, difference was revered. Heck, I still think people, deep down, admire difference. It takes guts and balls and nerve to stand out from the crowd, to stand up for the ideas and paradigms that are important to us. Being truly different -- doing something that no one has done before -- pushes boundaries. I'm not talking about wearing eyeliner because the other kids are doing it; I'm talking about innovation.
That's the very definition of 'risk'. Turning up to work in a short skirt is risky. Investing your money in a new venture is risky. Working on something without the promise of an immediate gain (financial or otherwise), is risk incarnate. But despite the chance of failure, and the associated loss of face or funds, we still take risks -- why? Individuals and corporations invest millions of man hours and billions of dollars into innovation every year. In many cases they risk everything for one big pay-off.
Often that pay-off never comes. Start-ups and garden-shed inventors come and go with nary a ripple made in the global market. But does that stop the next generation from risking their chips on a single throw of the die?
No. Human nature dictates that we get up and try again -- unless you're a web browser developer, of course. In that case you're one of those kids that reads magazines to find out this month's eyeliner trend. The major browsers are hopping over each other to be the cool kid in school, while the science lab goes unoccupied and innovation all but ceases.
In 2009, between the five big browsers -- Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera -- we saw a grand total of three new, never-before-seen features: Chrome Frame (pretty cool, and a great way to free those poor sods that are locked into IE6); HTML 5 support (as we've seen since the start of 2010, this is going to be a big thing this year); and... wait, that's it. There is no third. In 2009 we saw two new innovations in browser technology.
Sure, there have been advances but no changes; no alterations in how we surf. True, JavaScript performance has increased considerably. Yes, all of the browsers are approaching some semblance of standards-compliance. Even Firefox and Chrome have finally joined Opera in the ability to customize the browser's look and feel. But so what? We don't congratulate Intel on producing faster CPUs -- that's just what they're meant to do! Where is the 2009 equivalent of per-tab processes or incognito browsing? Where is our damn innovation?
No one really knew, back in 1995, what Netscape's introduction of JavaScript might herald. It was a risky and bold addition to an otherwise lackluster browser, but when Microsoft fought back in 1996 with its own version (JScript), the world knew it was going to be big. Meanwhile, Opera was quietly working on inventions that would soon make an appearance in every other browser: tabs and mouse gestures. Those were the glory days, before pesky considerations like 'stability' entered the equation.But it's now 2010. Chrome and its rapid development demands a lot of attention, but its only real addition to the field has been per-tab processes. Firefox is treading water and borrowing from Chrome's open source code to stay afloat -- JetPack is the next big thing, but it's still a ways off. Opera, after becoming freeware in 2005, has almost frozen its feature list and is simply focused on improving its performance -- they churn out good browsers, but where has the innovation and creativity gone?
The problem is a lack of necessity. The browser war has ended, and with it innovation has died. It was an odd war, with no real monetary or territorial significance. Rather romantically, the browser war was always been about the end user; it was all about enriching our web experience -- but then the war ended. With HTML and JavaScript standards finally reached, big corporations marched on in and fortified. It was no longer about merely satisfying the user; it was time to capitalize.
Classically, users can't desire something new, something they've never seen before. We can whine about stability, or speed, but we don't ask for things that don't exist -- and thus the browser has become a platform, rather than a tool. Websites and apps now dictate browser innovation, when really it should be a symbiotic relationship, with ideas flowing in both directions. Mozilla, instead of sticking to its guns and innovating, is playing into Google's hands by copy-catting Chrome -- Google wants a platform. Google, unlike Firefox, is a large corporate entity that needs a platform for its web apps and Chrome OS. Firefox needs to be different, but is too afraid to push in its chips and take a risk. Your market share is going to continue dwindling, Mozilla; do something about it!
The only real risk-taker left in the field is Microsoft... but it too wants a platform for the Office 2010 web apps! The browser, in 2010, will become a slow-moving, stability-and-security-comes-first operating system. With the maturity of the Internet comes the inexorable maturity of the browser: back in 1996, the dreaded Blink and Marquee tags were considered proprietary inventions of Netscape and Microsoft; today... shit, I can hardly tell the difference between the browsers. I use them all interchangeably. The web browser has never been less pertinent than it is today.
Looking forward, 2010 could still be bright. Mozilla's JetPack needs to get a move on, and Opera must continue to push HTML5. Perhaps, if we're lucky, Microsoft will risk it and roll Pivot into IE9. That'd be some actual innovation. Woah.
Comments
37
Subscribe to commentslinux 8 fanMar 12th 2010 3:11PM
As I remember Opera's Speed Dial appeared after 2005 and it was the first attempt to make something useful of all that blank space. After that came Unite and Turbo.
IMHO Opera is still the most innovative browser on the market.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 12th 2010 3:13PM
Yup, I think I'd agree with you.
Beyond HTML5, I don't think we're going to see any major innovations from the big browsers now.
We have to rely on Opera's 'fringe' nature to bring something fresh to the table, I guess!
(But even then, they need to watch things like their embedded/cut-down versions too.)
Boyd WatersMar 12th 2010 3:25PM
I think this article is profoundly clueless. Here are three reasons:
1) HTML5 is a new standard that permits a new way of creating web content. Of course there is the video tag. But perhaps more interesting will be tags that let authors describe their web pags, in ways that will be meaningful to a whole new class of search tools: tags like "article" and "sidebar".
2) Each major browser has it's own implementation of a Javascript compiler. About ten times as fast as the previous generation. This opens up a new world of opportunity for web developers.
3) The *real* innovation is created by those web developers and content creators. Everyone is scrambling to move their desktop application to the web browser. Next month we will see Microsoft Live Office. Running in a web browser. ANY web browser!!
And that's huge. The richness of the standard web-browser platform - one that works the same across any web browser - creates a perfect storm of innovation for the content creators.
But if you insist on defining "innovation" as "nonstandard new features", then get a clue and Google for "CSS Animation". There is a whole menagerie of nonstandard innovative feeping creaturism out there. You haven't heard of it because content developers mostly ignore new features.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 12th 2010 3:28PM
You say it's clueless, and then basically agree with most of my main points.
CSS Animation is quite cool, agreed.
Content developers don't ignore innovations; they grasp them like there's no tomorrow!
The problem is, the Web is consolidating. You can't throw in a technological curve-ball because the Internet is now _vital_. You can't wake up one morning to find your online banking inaccessible.
We'll see innovation, it's just going to happen very, very slowly, cautiously and deliberately. No more wild/frantic.
Boyd WatersMar 12th 2010 5:55PM
OK, I'm thinking about this...
Sorry about slinging the world "clueless", that was clueless of me. And it's a term that reeks of dot-com arrogance, anyway. Which was perhaps my initial viewpoint: I helped with JavaScript web-developer support at Netscape in 1997, so you can file me under "crotchety old web guy" -- I'm astounded that it took 10 years to realize the potential of the web platform. But we needed a standard, stable platform before things like AJAX could happen.
"No more wild/frantic"... hmm... You argue that the web browser platform can't move much, because things like online banking are too essential for much disruption to take place. But we're in the process of upheaval, anyway, because of the rise of the (real) mobile browser, convolved with the multi-touch user interface. The iPhone is the Internet Explorer of the moment: everyone wants to code to that target. And in two weeks there will be the iPad. So here we go again.
So I think there's still plenty of room for disruption in the user-facing browser, never mind the web developers. And we're seeing the shift towards "online by default" with traditionally-desktop things like 3D games; we've anticipated the "virtual world" for a long time but it hasn't been mainstream. Probably the Next Big Thing, beyond multi-touch, for the end-user is "augmented reality", merging the online world with the "real" physical one, in real-time. There's huge headroom for disruption in that space for the next 20 years.
I still think that the "no more wild/frantic" that you speak of is a crucially-needed period of consolidation: all the old HTML tweaks need to die. Simple markup with HTML5, and semantic markup with RDFa or microformats will help the back-end developers (particularly those inside the corporate firewall) to trundle forward. This invisible work makes the web-augmented world possible.
Thanks for the article! Clearly it was very thought-provoking. It certainly pushed my buttons! :-)
Olaf StaaveMar 12th 2010 4:07PM
Browsers do not concentrate on innovations this much because that's what extensions are for.
Opera did not invent tabbing, it's an urban legend which still circulates among its fans. Mouse gestures - sure. But there's also innovations they were beaten to (the last major browser to introduce private browsing, for example), or those attempts which never really caught on (visual tabs, Unite etc.) - it's for a reason that no competitor has ever "stolen" those.
For 95+% of people there is customizing the browser doesn't go beyond reskinning it. Even the most popular and obvious extra feature - adblocker - is only (fortunately, one might add) used by a minority.
The article doesn't mention innovative approach to browser UI - the minimalist trend started by Chrome which has gained big following. Hide the menu bar, leave more free space, put the tabs on the top etc.
hmmMar 12th 2010 4:33PM
I'm one of those rare Opera users here so let me clear off some points.
Opera introduced tabs only in Opera 4 in 2000. It had MDI (multiple web pages in 1 browser window) since version 1 in 1994. Tabs were first seen in InternetWorks in 1994.(though it seems such a remote browser that I couldn't even find a wikipedia entry.) . Mozilla came out with tabs in 2001 when it wasn't even Firefox and IE in 2006. Hope that clears off a few confusions.
Regarding private browsing they were late to the party but afaik they are the only one with private tabs and not just private windows. Slightly more convenient. Also Opera's tabs on top has been a feature in Opera since long before Chrome. You probably meant tab bar/title bar integration and remval of mnu bar.
hmmMar 12th 2010 4:38PM
*removal and *menu. Sorry for the typos
Sebastian AnthonyMar 12th 2010 4:44PM
Don't get me wrong, the refinements in the last 3 or 4 years have been very nice. I much prefer Chrome to IE6, but there isn't much I can DO with Chrome that I can't do with IE6.
I was told about the Opera-not-inventing-tabs just after I published this story, by Lee no less... perhaps I should've said 'popularized' (though perhaps Opera refined it to such a stage that Firefox felt it was ready for prime-time?)
Thanks for the input, both of you!
Olaf StaaveMar 12th 2010 5:06PM
@hmm,
I use Opera 10.50 (along with SRWare Iron) and I like it, but even this latest version does NOT put the tab bar on the very top.
The "personal bar" (bookmarks bar) is placed above the tabs and there isn't very much you can do about it. Well, you can put it at the very bottom of the screen if you like.
Also Opera seems not to have fully grasped the Chrome's concept: even with the personal bar switched off or moved to the bottom, there's still a gap left between the top of the tabs and the edge of the screen!
(There's one skin available which fixes that - "Default 10.50 Skin Without Top Tab Gap" by Zachary Keeping).
Whereas the very point of having Chrome-style tab bar is that it's way easier to reach something that lies on the edge of the screen.
It's not a new concept - Apple has used it for years (and patented it! famous "Apple menu").
To quote Bruce Tognazzini - "Apple menu bar is a lot faster than menu bars in Windows. Why? Because, since the menu bar lies on a screen edge, it has an infinite height. As a result, Mac users can just throw their mice toward the top of the screen with the assurance that it will never penetrate and disappear."
As of now, I can just "throw my mouse toward the top of the screen" when I use Chromium, but in Opera, I still have to make a "correction" and once it hits the edge of the screen, I still have to move the mouse pointer a few pixels downwards to activate a tab.
Since I can see no plausible reason for leaving this gap, it's safe to assume that they simply didn't get the gist of the UI concept they implemented.
DrekeMar 12th 2010 6:31PM
@Olaf Staave
"But there's also innovations they were beaten to (the last major browser to introduce private browsing, for example), or those attempts which never really caught on (visual tabs, Unite etc.)"
Unite and visual tabs are very recent. It took ages for others to steal stuff like Speed Dial from Opera.
Basically, most features in modern browsers were stolen from Opera: Search field/search from the UI, popup blocking, zooming, sessions, easy deletion of private data, etc.
"The article doesn't mention innovative approach to browser UI - the minimalist trend started by Chrome which has gained big following."
Nonsense. Firefox was minimalist long before Chrome came along. Chrome merely stole Opera's tabs on top concept, and removed the menu like IE already had.
DrekeMar 12th 2010 6:34PM
@Olaf Staave
"I use Opera 10.50 (along with SRWare Iron) and I like it, but even this latest version does NOT put the tab bar on the very top."
Yes it does. You mention the personal bar, but that is disabled by default.
"Also Opera seems not to have fully grasped the Chrome's concept: even with the personal bar switched off or moved to the bottom, there's still a gap left between the top of the tabs and the edge of the screen!"
That is because it is Chrome that doesn't get Opera's concept (and you, of course(: You are supposed to be able to grab the window, especially with the "gestures" in Windows 7 that allow you to do so.
"Whereas the very point of having Chrome-style tab bar is that it's way easier to reach something that lies on the edge of the screen."
It isn't Chrome-style. It's Opera-style. Opera always had the tab bar at the top. And the tabs can't be at the edge of the screen because you need to be able to grab the browser window.
"Since I can see no plausible reason for leaving this gap, it's safe to assume that they simply didn't get the gist of the UI concept they implemented."
Actually, it is you who are assuming a bunch of things about Opera. They are not the incompetent ones. You are the one who doesn't understand UI design.
ErebosMar 12th 2010 8:30PM
Actually, Chrome wasn't the first to hide the menu bar.
I've been doing it on Opera since 9.5 using a custom keyboard shortcut. Later on, Opera gave it a more visible place so that users can find it more easily, but the function was there all along.
Olaf StaaveMar 12th 2010 9:58PM
@Dreke
"And the tabs can't be at the edge of the screen because you need to be
able to grab the browser window."
For every time I need to grab the browser window border, there's 1000+ times when I switch from tab to tab, or close a tab, or rearrange tabs etc.
How do you use your browser? Mine typically stays maximized for most of the time
Optimizing UI for an action which occurs much less often makes no sense...
IF web browser users would be moving/resizing the browser window more often than switching/closing/rearranging tabs - your point would be valid, but that's not the case
Also - contrary to what you say - you *are* able to grab the window anyway, because the tabs do not occupy 100% of the title bar width, even when there's no gap left on the top. Eg. when you use the skin I mentioned; the title bar is still "grabbable," on the right side of the last tab.
"Actually, it is you who are assuming a bunch of things about Opera. They are not the incompetent ones. You are the one who doesn't understand UI design."
That might be, but it certainly hasn't been proven by your comment.
Surely I don't call myself an expert on that field, but I recommend you reading what the aforementioned Tognazzini has to say, for a good start.
You may agree or disagree with it - but arguing that he doesn't know what he's talking about would be laughable. Read Joel Spolsky as well, lots of interesting insights and observations on the matter
DrekeMar 13th 2010 7:49AM
@Olaf Staave
"For every time I need to grab the browser window border, there's 1000+ times when I switch from tab to tab, or close a tab, or rearrange tabs etc."
Doesn't matter. You will need to aim for the right tab anyway. You can't just throw the cursor randomly around.
"Also - contrary to what you say - you *are* able to grab the window anyway, because the tabs do not occupy 100% of the title bar width, even when there's no gap left on the top. Eg. when you use the skin I mentioned; the title bar is still "grabbable," on the right side of the last tab."
Ah, so to use basic OS functionality you need to rely on dirty hacks and weird workarounds. I get it.
"Surely I don't call myself an expert on that field, but I recommend you reading what the aforementioned Tognazzini has to say, for a good start."
Surely the Opera guys know better than you what they want to do. You are just trying to get away from the fact that you thought they were complete morons, when the fact is that they did what they did for a real reason. You implied that they were incompetent and that this was a bug or something. The fact is that it's carefully thought out. You may not agree with it, but I think I'll go with the professionals on this one.
Olaf StaaveMar 13th 2010 10:23AM
> "For every time I need to grab the browser window border, there's
> 1000+ times when I switch from tab to tab, or close a tab, or
> rearrange tabs etc."
"Doesn't matter. You will need to aim for the right tab anyway. You can't just throw the cursor randomly around."
Wrong. There is a big difference - you don't need to be precise VERTICALLY (when tabs are at the edge). That's what I was trying to explain to you. That's the Apple menu concept.
> "Also - contrary to what you say - you *are* able to grab the window
> anyway, because the tabs do not occupy 100% of the title bar width,
> even when there's no gap left on the top. Eg. when you use the skin
> I mentioned; the title bar is still "grabbable," on the right side of the
> last tab."
"Ah, so to use basic OS functionality you need to rely on dirty hacks and weird workarounds."
Dirty hacks :))) You're obviously just trolling
plingsMar 13th 2010 12:03PM
@Olaf Staave
"Wrong. There is a big difference - you don't need to be precise VERTICALLY (when tabs are at the edge). That's what I was trying to explain to you. That's the Apple menu concept."
No, you are missing the point. The point is that you need to precisely maneuver the cursor anyway, so the border is irrelevant.
"Dirty hacks :))) You're obviously just trolling"
You are obviously unable to counter these facts, so one might ask who's trolling... I think the troll here is the guy who assumed that the Opera guys were idiots, rather than educating himself about how GUIs work.
DamianMar 12th 2010 4:14PM
Canvas, HTML5, inline SVG etc... clearly have no potential for changing the way we browse the web.
I like how you think the web is so small these days that a browser vendor adds a feature and all the developers flock to it and just present an old site to other browser users. We live in a bit more of a grown up web these days, you might be nostalgic but that doesn't exclude an so blatantly ignorant blog post.
Sebastian AnthonyMar 12th 2010 4:46PM
How on earth did you mistake my words for _nostalgia_? I am many things, but nostalgic is one term I would never, ever use to describe myself.
HTML5 will obviously change how we browse (as we've already started to see with the recession of Gears) -- but did you see the timescale on the full HTML5 spec being completed? Pretty crazy...
DamianMar 12th 2010 5:00PM
I don't even see why spec completion is a consideration. Browser vendor 5 years have shown anything is that the browser vendors don't really care that much for the W3C even if some of them like standards.