CH-CH-CH Changes

Editor's NOTE: This is a moldie oldie that I pulled from a text dump archive. None of the links will work anymore (or 99% won't) - but the names and companies have NOT changed.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Internet stocks (especially Yahoo), have changed - they've gone through the roof!

Apple's profitability has changed - they actually have a profit (at least on paper).

At FileMaker Inc, a few people (some who are close friends) have resgined or been moved to Apple.

The proliferation of FileMaker Plug-Ins continues to grow (Troi's Plug-Ins are AWESOME, and so are the new ones from Waves In Motion).

New browsers are brewing from Netscape and even the people we love to hate, Microsoft.

Why even this very site has gone through some dramatic changes in the past month.

I'm all for change. Change can be great. But change can also suck - BIG TIME. Sometimes change is a good thing (like the internet stocks, Apple's profitability, the changes on this site, and the proliferation of new FMP Plug-Ins). An example of when it sucks - who the hell needs yet ANOTHER browser version that is totally incompatible? And for what? So that each browser developer can force people to choose either their browser or the competition's. Each browser developer is also forcing webmasters to choose to support one browser ("Optimized for IE" or "Optimized for Navigator") over another - while completely ignoring the scores of folks who still use the AOL 3.0 browser (which, itself, is incompatible with EVERYTHING).

The bad news is that you can't control change. The good news is that you control how much these changing events affect you. I use Netscape Navigator 3.0. Yep, that's right, 3.0. Why? It WORKS. It hardly crashes. It supports JavaScript fairly well. It is friendly with 99.9% of all sites. It handles QuickTime 3.0, ShockWave, and RealPlayer flawlessly.

Sure, we have the "latest and greatest" versions of all the browsers on our server (NT 4.0 - who knew?) - but I like what I like, and I like 3.0.

The newer versions CRASH like hell, and give nice, ANNOYING "features" that no one in their right mind needs. I mean, come on, how many sites use DTML? When was the last time you just HAD to go to the latest VRML site? Unless you're in a corporate setting with LOTS of co-horts in far-flung places - do you REALLY need "whiteboard" capabilities in a BROWSER? I'm not a big fan of the Windows 95 User interface - but are you telling me you think it's a GOOD idea to have people use a BROWSER for the interface on a desktop computer?

Nah... all this stuff is pure B.S. It's designed to force you, the weary daily surfer to choose one browser over another. Why? Money. Once they give you the "free fix", they're betting that you'll "protect your investment" in browsers by PAYING for an upgrade down the road. As for me, personally, I'll keep using NN 3.0 until I can't browse my favorite sites anymore. At that point, I'll switch to my cell phone which will browse in TEXT ONLY mode...