Confessions of a Web Developer XX
It's been quite a while since I've gotten a few things off of my chest and since I'm always full of peeves and annoyances I thought it was time to unleash:
- One day you're getting recruited by another crypto wallet vendor, the next their users are getting drained of funds. Dodged a bullet there...
- Apple has released its XR headset but XR as a daily experience is still decades away. I worked on Mozilla VR 10 years ago and the industry hasn't gained an ounce of traction since then. Why?...
- ...because the truth is that no one wants to put on a headset, looking like an idiot, for experiences. Augmented reality's success requires the least amount of friction for success...
- ...and speaking of friction, $3500 is an insane price for a XR headset. Even if the product is amazing, they've shut out most of the market...
- My household is an Apple household. iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, AirPods, AppleTVs, etc. That said, I loathe how new Apple products are celebrated. Apple releases subpar products while Apple simps celebrate them ....
- ... but we continue to use Apple products because Apple products always just work together. We already know this but ... user experience is everything.
- Working with a Design Systems team is one of the best things to happen to my career. Ready to use components make development faster, more focused, and more enjoyable for engineers.
- A few friends have recently asked me to talk to them about Bitcoin. Bull market incoming?...
- Every time I publish a pro-React tweet I get Svelte and Vue engineers insulting me. I finally know what felt like to be a jQuery stan...
- One of the best parts of working remotely is being able to get up a few times a day to steal a hug and kiss from my wife. Fair chance she might disagree...
- The state of console video games is at an all time low. Switch, PS5, and Xbox are offering nothing special at the rate you'd hope. PC games these days are incredible....
- Feels like the era of blogs is well and truly over. Traffic is down, advertisers drying up, and even I don't read as many blogs as I used to...
- ...and I can't necessarily switch to media because I have a face for radio and voice for the silent films. Our podcast was fun though...
- Seeing the media celebrate Manchester City for winning the treble after 115 charges of financial rules breaches, also known as cheating, shows how easily sportswashing works...
Am I wrong? Am I right? Bring it.
I still read your blog tho so please don’t take this as an excuse to stop publishing!
It feels like blogs are being replaced by email newsletters, oddly enough… Weird.
Back in a previous confession (https://davidwalsh.name/confessions-xix) you talked about how you didn’t like that you got all kinds of negative feedback with any crypto or NFT topics and had to move that to a separate channel.
Have you conceded to the shinanigans and ‘greater fool theory’ that these systems are yet? or are you willing to admit that you got scammed too?
Ps please stick to web dev and serious tech topics only.
Wonderful post David!
I remember you were one of the best maintainers, always supporting, at Mozilla when I was giving my micro contribution on Firefox Dev Tool, a couple of years ago.
I especially agree with your “user experience is everything” and your critique about indiscriminate celebration of Apple products.
I only disagree with the console gaming section of this post.PC ports of games have been terrible the past year and half while console games run stable without players having to worry about wether they have the right hardware.Also console games have been pulling their weight lately in the gaming world with the amount of devs that can work without being remote again.The only argument in can see for PC is the steam store and it’s vast library of games but again those are games specifically designed for PC,not ported from a console version most of the time.Not being negative but I’ve noticed some gamers have a preference on what genre they like to play but also turn around and say”there are no good games anymore”.Right, because you have a strict style of gaming that suits you, but your not thinking about other gamers who go crazy over yet another Mario game on a system that has specs from almost ten years ago .I do see a problem in the future if companies like Microsoft can’t differentiate between their console version and PC version though,(why have an Xbox if the same game is on game pass for PC right?)Again,not hating but don’t give up on consoles yet
I wouldn’t say VR hasn’t gained any traction. It certainly hasn’t gone mainstream yet, but I definitely keep hearing about more and more people who have a headset. Also, wife time is definitely one of the biggest perks of remote work. Full agreement there. My wife might even agree more heartily than I do.