Why Lynx-compatibility matters (was RE: Lotsa laughs)

[David Megginson]

Didier PH Martin writes:

 > Lynx? Do you have a time machine? :-)

Until very recently (a few months ago), I still used Lynx to read HTML
documentation quickly when I was already in a shell.

Actually, I think that the Lynx test is a very good one, since it
probably mirrors many of the limitations that will exist in early
palm-top or cell-phone browsers (can you imagine 5 frames and a giant
splash graphic on a 2"x3" handheld screen?).

All Web sites should be able to display some kind of useful
information in Lynx, either by browser sniffing or even just using the
<noframes> element.  It's not rocket science -- if your Web designer
doesn't know how to do it, it's time to go shopping.

<rant> 

The PC revolution is just about run its course, and the big, bloated
browsers and OS's may just be its death rattle.  Not that PC's will
disappear -- minicomputers and mainframes never did, and they even
made a big come-back later on -- but people just won't care as much.

Small devices (such as heldhelds and smart cell phones) may do to
Microsoft in the next decade what PCs did to IBM in the 1980's.  Let's
start thinking forward a couple of years -- should we be more worried
more about 3COM than Microsoft?

</rant>


All the best,


David

-- 
David Megginson                 david at megginson.com
           http://www.megginson.com/

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