I am thankful for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) aka the technology behind web browsers' ability to load data dynamically without having to refresh. It has saved us from the thankless task of refreshing our browser endlessly to view any update. If it hadn't been for this technology, web applications would have permanently lagged behind native applications in terms of usability. And I will even go out on a limb and say that maybe even web 2.0 might not have been as robust had it not been for AJAX.
However the evolution of AJAX and its omnipresence in web 2.0 has had a few unintended consequences. One of them is the broken scroll bar.
To see what I mean, go to Facebook Newsfeed and reload the page. Now click on the scrollbar and start scrolling down, you would imagine that the scrollbar will stop scrolling as soon as it reaches the bottom of the window. But using the magic of AJAX, Facebook manages to add more content to the Newsfeed as we reach the end of the scroll. This results in an endless scrolling process.
IMHO that the scroll bar has to go the way of the Dodo, as it can be extremely disorienting. A few browsers on touch devices are taking a scroll-less approach which has its share of problems as well. What are your thoughts?
However the evolution of AJAX and its omnipresence in web 2.0 has had a few unintended consequences. One of them is the broken scroll bar.
To see what I mean, go to Facebook Newsfeed and reload the page. Now click on the scrollbar and start scrolling down, you would imagine that the scrollbar will stop scrolling as soon as it reaches the bottom of the window. But using the magic of AJAX, Facebook manages to add more content to the Newsfeed as we reach the end of the scroll. This results in an endless scrolling process.
IMHO that the scroll bar has to go the way of the Dodo, as it can be extremely disorienting. A few browsers on touch devices are taking a scroll-less approach which has its share of problems as well. What are your thoughts?
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