It’s my opinion that the modern web is massively enshittified, and was so long before that term came into play.
Too much focus on flashy (and often obstructive) presentation, constant reinvention of the wheel, and no regard for the actual information being delivered.
I mean, you mention “semantic markup” to your average web developer and they just stare at you blankly. They’re like the seagulls from Finding Nemo: DIV? DIV!DIV!
Useful information structures? Meaningful metadata? Consistent patterns? Forget about it.
HTML and JavaScript are part of the problem. They provide too much freedom and not nearly enough structure or guidance.
And even if you put all that aside, JavaScript is an abomination that is entirely unsuited to the purpose it’s being used for. Ask any JS developer. Or look at how many ridiculous frameworks have been slapped over the top of it in a vain attempt to address its inadequacies.
I’ve often thought, if I had a little less integrity, I could make huge money off the world’s idiots.
Faraday cage MAGA hats, weeping
<insert religious icon here>
statues, that kind of thing.
I think my favourite grift of all time was the little plugin devices that “optimised” your home electrical system. Literally just a blinking LED circuit.
The way I see it, they think GenAI is the new portal to information, the way search has been for the last 25-30 years. They want to control that portal, because it’s worth trillions over time.
This is why they’re cramming it into everything and worrying about use cases later. It’s a land grab.
It’s my opinion that the modern web is massively enshittified, and was so long before that term came into play.
Too much focus on flashy (and often obstructive) presentation, constant reinvention of the wheel, and no regard for the actual information being delivered.
I mean, you mention “semantic markup” to your average web developer and they just stare at you blankly. They’re like the seagulls from Finding Nemo: DIV? DIV! DIV!
Useful information structures? Meaningful metadata? Consistent patterns? Forget about it.
HTML and JavaScript are part of the problem. They provide too much freedom and not nearly enough structure or guidance.
And even if you put all that aside, JavaScript is an abomination that is entirely unsuited to the purpose it’s being used for. Ask any JS developer. Or look at how many ridiculous frameworks have been slapped over the top of it in a vain attempt to address its inadequacies.