posted by steve | Category: Random Rants |

Sometimes, with web technology it’s better to just say no. I’m reluctant to point to the exact sites that I saw but there are enough examples that it doesn’t take long to find one. People need to lay off the AJAX a little.

I can’t say as though the misuse of AJAX (and whatever other web technology du jour) is the result of overzealous developers because many times it’s business users who want the cool looking widgets and blinky stuff more than the developers. Someone just needs to step back and say “does this widget really need to be done in AJAX or Flash or whatever or can it be done with some HTML and CSS and maybe a sprinkle of plain JavaScript?” Too often, we fall prey to the hot new thing. Anyone remember the blink tag?

What got me going on this is a new book that I’m working on. I’ll have some links to that when I get the thumbs up to do so from the publisher. But for now, please take a look at how you use the web technologies on your site, please!