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

[Ray Hill]

> I am sorry but I WANT to be on the leading edge, not the
> lagging.  I want to work with the latest technology, not
> have to code for the oldest.  Where do you want to be...

As an Engineer, I want to produce a stable, reliable end result that
is accessible and intuitive to anyone who wants to use it.  I'd much
rather take the responsibility of creating a high-end version and a
low-end version that degrade gracefully than have to tell a large
portion of potential users to sod off.

I have a feeling, though, that this opinion will be agreed with by the
web developers who consider themselves engineers, and disagreed with
by those who consider themselves artists.  And certainly there is a
place for both.



> Yes we are talking about eye candy.  There are vendors/clients
> out there who want the stuff.  Is it my job to tell them they
> are stupid?

Of course not.  But it *is* your responsibility to make sure they
realize the implications of their off-the-cuff desires.  Pepsi is a
perfect example.  Their marketing staff with surely want something
flashy at the inception, but after they realize that a large portion
of their target audience (ie, the every-day citizen) will either get
error messages or a broken version of the site because they have old
browsers, or non-upgradable browsers (like WebTV, or many of the
internet appliance devices that are coming out these days), they migh
change their tune to something still pretty, but less detrimental to
the userbase.

Ultimately, it's still their decision, but if you haven't made them
fully aware of the negative side-effects of bleeding edge technology,
then you're doing them (and their users) a disservice.



--ray