tablelessness on my mind
Thursday, February 03, 2005
| table | less | ness |
We've been talking about tableless design in this "webpro" mailing list that i'm a member of. It's been your typical back and forth without much in the way of, uh, discovery. But whatever. I always love a good debate. Anyway, thought i'd post the message i wrote this morning in its entirety before i cut off the last paragraph or two and hit send.
Anyone know where stats can be found regarding user agents. I have to wonder what percentage of web users are using non-PC based browsers. My other issue is in wondering how these agents display the websites you browse. (I'm not lucky enough to have a web-enabled PDA or cell phone, nor am I particularly inclined to buy one to read fark.com while driving to work :)) I understand that there are other issues, like screen readers for the blind, etc, but that's not really what I'm questioning.
What I'm wondering is why as site designers we should really be all that worried about what a site is going to look like on a pda. You'd think that the pda developers should be more worried about creating a product that works with the already-existing web. Sure, one day we could all have refrigerators that can browse the web so that we can order milk. But somehow I doubt the possibility of this becoming ubiquitous. Does this also mean that we need to account for closet doors that will allow us to order new sweaters? Will closet door displays differ from fridge displays? Will all websites look like blogs? Will cars fly? Can I press this button and receive a ham sandwich? Mmm.
I'd think it's more likely that we'd simply have multiple computers in the home, much in the same way that we have multiple TVs and radios. And most likely they'll all be one device.
Where we are now, I see it as such: I can use tables and css together very efficiently to achieve things that I never could do with either alone. These are the tools that I use in my trade, and I should use them the best I know how to create the end product I am trying to reach. If Sergio can't see j-ink.com effectively on his cell phone while sipping lattes in Manhattan, maybe he'll check it when he gets home!
posted by j. Permanent Link
