News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

May 30, 2007

rivals

Microsoft doesn’t know what it’s doing.

Posted May. 30, ’07, 11:44 AM PT by Pat Nakajima
Category | Apple » Rivals

I was riding the latest wave of RSS items to hit NetNewsWire and I saw a mention of Microsoft’s “Surface” technology. I thought I may as well give it another look since other people are talking about it, so I tried to point NetNewsWire’s browser to the official web site. I was greeted by a black screen with the following error:

This site requires that scripting is enabled in your browser. Please enable scripting and refresh this page.

You see, NetNewsWire’s default settings don’t support Javascript. Many browsers don’t, including screen-readers for the visually impaired, mobile browsers, and of course, my favorite feed-reader. (I’m not criticizing NetNewsWire here. I actually like the fact that it doesn’t play nice with Javascript. NetNewsWire is about content, not visual bells and whistles.)

Plenty of web sites use Javascript these days. The trick is what’s called “graceful degradation.” That means that when there’s no Javascript, the site still works, albeit with less flare. What’s an example of a site that degrades gracefully? Why, Apple.com of course!

Keep reading to learn more about how Apple.com’s design degrades gracefully, and how Microsoft’s… doesn’t.

Some of the pages on Apple.com use Javascript to send requests for information to the server while you aren’t looking, which they then use to keep that news ticker rolling, or play bits of media. When you try access one of these pages without Javascript, the page looks normal, but there is a small notice at the top:

Please enable JavaScript to view this page properly.

Apple.com scripted pages not only work without Javascript, but also inform you of the problem and offer a link to Apple’s documentation site for more details.

Unfortunately, Microsoft’s web developers decided to make their site entirely reliant upon Javascript, so it only behaves properly if it’s enabled. If it’s not though, the page informs the user that he/she must enable “scripting.”

Here’s the rub: In 0 of the 5 web browsers installed on my Mac is there anything reminiscent of a “scripting” option. I checked Internet Explorer, no sign of it there either. So if you’re sans Javascript, the page will not only not render, but also send you for a loop trying to find a solution. When it rains, it pours. Good old Microsoft.


5 Comments

gaba said:

You can turn on JavaScript support in NetNewsWire: Preferences... » Browsing » Web Pages » Enable JavaScript (at least that's the way to do it in version 3.0a15, which I'm using).

May 30, 2007 1:54 PM
V.M.R. said:

I'm not sure what Microsoft thinks they're doing with Surface in general anyway, so it's just as well they're incompetent with the site. "Sure," they said when they approved the project, "let's test the market for a multimedia device controlled with the hands. I'm sure if it takes off Apple doesn't have a technology that would allow them to swoop in and do it better and cheaper!"

Seriously, they have to have seen the Multitouch demo from before Apple bought Multitouch. Everything they're demoing is from that video. So what on Earth do they think is going to prevent Apple from jumping in if the water's nice?

May 30, 2007 2:22 PM
Mulder said:

@V.M.R.

Multi-touch is a technology, not a company, and Apple didn't buy it. The man behind the technology is Jeff Han, and his company is Perceptive Pixel (perceptivepixel.com).

May 30, 2007 6:03 PM
V.M.R. said:

Ah, true. I'm sorry if I made it seem like I thought it was a company; I was aware it was not, but I was not aware that Apple did not have exclusivity on it. Perceptive Pixel's website is unhelpful, and Apple's similarly, so I had to resort to Wikipedia, which informs me that it was actually Fingerworks that got bought. I thought Multi-touch was theirs.

But still, Apple has a working implementation of Multi-touch, so there is still nothing standing in the way of their entering the "useless decoration" market in a big way if it shows signs of being profitable.

May 30, 2007 11:35 PM
Nick said:

I've been feeling the same way about Microsoft for a decade now, where are they going?

I had the same greeting message, I used Firefox and block those nuisances.

My first reaction was: "Microsoft is putting out some fluff in a desperate attempt to catch up and wants my info to hail how many people are interested in their new technology, including Mac users!" Losers! It rhymes, get it.

However your title is a great one and makes many of us wonder: "Where is Microsoft going?"

Is Microsoft a company that offers so-so products for big companies, or small-to-mid-sized ones, individuals, are they into the media craze, or the portable mp3 hardware phase that will fizzle away eventually, or are they just desperate and try to latch on to anything that might give them a hope of continuing their stranglehold on the industry and slowing down its advancents?

I think the latter is probably true. It doesn't know where it wants to go. It observes the market and jumps on where it feels it could have a say. Unfortunately, it doesn't innovate, at least personally. It never has really. It's a jack of all trades but master of none.

Surface is cute and actually nice but where does it fit a company's needs? What does it do to tackle the real problems in security issues and spam?

Can you hear me now Microsoft?

May 31, 2007 7:59 AM

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