[thelist] Old Browsers old Software, cut bait and move on.

[Mark Cheng]

>>Of course this is going
>>to stop some people from downloading it, when their existing browser
>>displays 99% of sites just fine.
>
>Also, we're assuming that most consumers have the knowledge of why
>they might need to upgrade (ie get past "Stupid site's broken - I'm
>not coming back"), plus the will and the technical ability to do so.
>
>Don't know about you, but both my parents and parents in law are
>intelligent, educated people. But I'm their tech support - they wouldn't
>know why or how to upgrade their stuff, or even do simple things like
>get modern virus protection (simple - buy Norton and use Eudora
>rather than Outlook (cos they're not going to keep up with the security
>patches)).
>

Ok, the older generations may have difficulty understanding the difference
between a browser limitation and a broken site.  In fact, I have the same
issue with my parents.  However, that's not necessarily a reason to
design/code a website to cater for those people, unless they are your target
audience.  The business case is whether or not the loss of the potential
audience will actually lead to significant lost sales.  Will cutting out
evertyhing but gen 5 cause you to lose a significant portion of sales?  A
question to be answered on a case by case basis, but remember - if 2% of the
80% that do use Gen 5 browsers actually buy something from you - your
customer base is potentially 350 Million * 80% * 2% = 5.6 million people.
Say you want US only, call it 70 million * 80 *2 = 1.12million.  Can your
clients business even cope with that?

Interesting that you bring up the point about virus scanners.  I assume that
you would urge your parents to update their virus scanning, and not just the
dats but the engines as well?  What's the difference between that and old
browsers, many with security holes??

Don't forget that the new generations will be learning on more modern
computers (ok, mainly to drive their games, but they are going to at least
ie5 equivalent equipped).  Will they even learn how to code for ie3, nn3?  I
doubt universities and schools would bother.  So eventually old browsers
won't work in 99% of sites.

The new generation will be arguing whether it is worth catering to html.

I think Brian is right.  Design to what you are comfortable with and what
your client is comfortable with.  If you like designing for old browsers, go
ahead.  In the same way that clients can choose to design a whole site in
flash, web designers can choose to design for business that only want to
cater for a particular selection of browsers.


This email may be confidential and contain commercially sensitive information.  Only the intended recipient may access or use it.  If you are not the intended recipient please delete this email and notify us promptly. 
We use virus scanning software but exclude all liability for viruses or similar in this email or any attachment.