Is Facebook necessary?

Have you ever wondered what it was like before Facebook? Or what will happen if Facebook is to be no more? For me it is not going to change anything, it's not like it will be the end of the world. But one thing for sure we have to give Mark Zuckerberg the respect he deserves for being innovative.

Before Facebook, i was not in touch with people i knew when i was doing my primary education or even with my relatives that are abroad. It all changed when i joined FB, i was amazed with how easy it was to be linked to  people, from relatives to friends and friends of friends ... So i was in touch but only for a short while. To be honest, i joined FB so that i can check on people i knew ... what are they doing ... who is married ... who has kids .... and so on ...

It was also a platform for engaging in meaningful debates ... be it sports, politics, relationships ... i could share my thoughts with a lot of people. But for some reason i just stopped using FB. If i want to be in touch with my brother or sister, i either call or send an email. If i want to talk about sports or politics i visit my friends. And guess what, i am still not in touch with people i knew when i was in primary ... I am sure they were more curious to know how i was doing than to get in touch with me again ... which i am also guilty of ...

So after FB, everything is still the same. Nothing has been added or removed in my life. And i just came to one conclusion ... for me it is not necessary. I do not know about you, maybe it is great ... you use it to remind you of people who are having birthdays ... to stoke someone ... to check progress on others ... to stay in touch with relatives and friends ... and so on ... I would, however, like to know what you think about FB ... till next time ...

Should We Support Old Browsers?

A lot has happened over the past 10 years. Browsers have evolved to adapt to new web technologies. From a user’s perspective, they are now faster, simple and easy to upgrade. On the other hand, from a developer’s view, it is now easy and faster to develop the look and feel of web applications.

For instance, let us look at one of CSS 3 new feature, box-shadow. The box-shadow, as the name implies, creates a shadow, for instance, on a rectangular div. Now in previous versions you would have to add an image to do that. This feature is supported in IE-9, Firefox 4+ and Chrome 3+ (and other browsers I did not mention).

Another example I can add is Html 5 which again has new elements and features that are supported in newer versions of browsers. Let us look at the input element as an example. You can now specify a text-input as an email. I am referring to it as a text-input because in older browser like IE-6, it will be rendered as a text-box. Now with this there is no need to add validation on the control to check if the value is a valid email. This is all taken care of for you.

These are just a few simple examples that I can point out, but there are a lot more benefits we can reap from using new browsers. Now as a developer you will be tempted to develop web applications or static sites that can only be rendered nicely in these new browsers. You would be impressed with what you would have accomplished in a short period of time and this will only last up to until you get a phone call from a client telling you that the design is not good or that validation is not working. Only to realise that you did not cater for old browsers.

Let us look at the box-shadow again as an example. Now as a fall-back plan you would put a background image that would show the shadow. With the email you would add a JavaScript validation to make sure that the value entered is a valid email. All this could be avoided. How? From the word go, develop bearing in mind there are people still using old browsers. Or simply ask your client to upgrade to new browsers which I would advocate for.

I think it is time we start to educate our clients the benefits of upgrading to new browsers. Not only does it cut development time, but it will also give them a good user experience. This is a win-win situation for all of us. I would also like to hear your thoughts on this.