What is Digg?68 Comments
- Glutnix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4While that might be true, I believe the reason it's still fully functional but crap non-valid HTML is because the page still fits in a minimal number of TCP packets (possibly just a single packet), what with it being only 1,238 bytes, thus making it even faster to serve up. +digg.
- Pooley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Speaking as a 38 year old whose background has been in computer programming, I can say that 'learning' HTML was a bit of an issue back in the mid 90s when trying to deploy a web interface.
Of course HTML is essentially entirely simple if done in a simple fashion, so I soon overcame this. A lot of the problems back then were that programmers where developing sites and web apps but didn't really have a great understanding of usability. I think the same is probably true today, although there are people out there who 'get' both, even to the latest WC3 standards, and I like to include myself amongst them - to hire me call... ;-) - gookie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So when Yahoo! and MSN started copying Google minimalistic search page....were they wishing they didnt know HTML as well?
lol - Chicken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11.6k diggs? You guys are mindless little *****.
- rm999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That's really interesting. I've always thought that the people (non-professionals) who know the most web programming stuff make the most crowded and least functional sites. This is because they want to stuff as much of their knowledge into a site as possible.
- baloniaz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3try typing "french military victories" in the search box and hitting the "i'm feeling lucky" button
- beejay54, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Does anyone know an engineer these days than can code HTML or a decent interface? I sure don't. Engineers care more about core functionality and results, which is the way I like them. HTML/interfaces are a designers realm.
- zwilliams, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1HTML is soooooooo last century, XHTML people. C'mon now.
Google's success came from three things: Its ease of use, its speed, and its quirky developers and staff that like to have fun.
I avoid Yahoo, Excite, MSN Search, and all those others because its so damn cluttered. Everyone puts everything on one page, not only does it distract from the purpose of the search, it slows you down. I just overall prefer the little Google box up in the corner of Safari. I type in a word hit enter (or command enter to open the results in a new tab) and I'm done. - Bannana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0today is googles 7th birthday!
http://www.google.com/logos/7th_birthday.gif
and super digg I would never have seen that! - t35t0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So what, Henry Ford didn't know how to read or write, but he hired people with Ph.D.'s.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0***** aye. The more ***** on a page, the less usable it becomes.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great article. Nice to get such a great set of notes from a lecture most of us wouldn't have known about, otherwise.
I have to say it - Google Product Manager, Marissa Mayer - wow. What a cutie. Where can I find a succesful, gorgeous technogeek like her? - Chicken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You idiots just digg everything that has to do with google.
- Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dancentury's out to make us all alcoholics
- ebenthurston, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Here is a guranteed digg mainpage story:
Google + Ipod - Firefox = Apple - altidude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It would be nice if a lot of other "webmasters" didn't know HTML, either.
- saggygrandma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Google's Founders didn't know HTML!"
Wow thats kinda like microsoft! - FRAGaLOT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0reporting this as lame. You still had to know how to do HTML to even do the simplest pages. This is complete *****.
- DisposableRob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Do you guys think that a search engine homepage is as important in the days of browsers with search built in?"
I'd say no, except that I love Google's personalized homepage.
http://www.google.com/ig - tempusrob, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1And if you look at google.com's HTML source, you'd swear they _still_ didn't know HTML.
- peerk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Great read, and yes the current source certainly doesn't look it was written by professionals. Indentation people, indentation!"
They most likely run their static HTML pages through a script that removes any unnecessary white spaces. This reduces the file size. - aluminumpork, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Great read, and yes the current source certainly doesn't look it was written by professionals. Indentation people, indentation!
- cybertron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Googles bare homepage is the #1 reason why I started using them. I even went as far as to email them when their "Directory" showed up years ago and said... PLEASE! dont put that on the front page, and they said they Never would. Thanks google for keepin it clean.
I wouldnt be surprised if bill gates didnt know a line of java or the like. :-p - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Apple + Intel < MS + AMD
- theone3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So?
They were mathematicians. And besides, the web was infant! - jesusphreak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Do you guys think that a search engine homepage is as important in the days of browsers with search built in?
I don't... - Seaton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I feel really, really stupid.
"The infamous "I feel lucky" is nearly never used. However, in trials it was found that removing it would somehow reduce the Google experience. Users wanted it kept. It was a comfort button."
I've been using Google for as long as I can remember. I never noticed the "I feel lucky" button. I type in what I need and press enter. I do know the "I feel lucky" feature can be duplicated by typing your search request into the address bar of Firefox. Firefox will simply take you to the most likely site. Just like Netscape and Mozilla have always done and what I could never make IE do. - pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love Google's home-page. It's *perfect* the way it is and I'd prefer to never see it deviate a whole lot from how it currently is. It's never boring as they post special images for special events, but it's not like they're redesigning the homepage every month, which is good. Sure the built-in search box in Firefox is great .... I use it all the time, but Google's home-page is what says the most about the company upfront (first impressions), and it does an *awesome* job at that. Thank you to Google, for being the coolest company in existence.
- dewey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0google.com/ig is the best search engine page I've ever seen.
- echimu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hee...
Great write up! I home they atleast use basic html tags :) but I don't care as long as it remains simple :D - The_Dude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah, I believe that... (not really)
- shovel10, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I understand why google has a fight with Cnet over searching on CV, hell they discover this is *****.
- spartan:117, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0And yet... Goole still will take-over the universe... Mwahahah!
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Yeah... and ebay was founded to sell/trade items for his girlfriend's pez dispenser collection.
Don't believe everything you read/hear, even if you know THAT person wrote/said it. People have been known to lie to build mystique. - bonlebon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0they didn't know HTML but knew how to program an engine?, I smell something rotten.
- mercatroy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For those who don't know, Yahoo and MSN both have minimalistic search pages.
http://www.search.yahoo.com
http://www.search.msn.com - kubedawg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0remember kids, sometimes less is more.
- GoghUA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I avoid Yahoo, Excite, MSN Search, and all those others because its so damn cluttered."
Ummm... All three of those sites have their own non-cluttered search page.
Enjoy...
http://search.yahoo.com/
http://search.excite.com/
http://search.msn.com/ - KriLL3.2™, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Smells like bs... And there are other reasons for a front page to be minimalistic... If you go to other search engines you're usually confronted with a huge amout stuff. Enough to scare most people... Sometimes more is less.
- spartan:117, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Google*... stupid laptop keyboard.
- IraqManiac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0good! it's not msn, is it
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"All three of those sites have their own non-cluttered search page."
So Yahoo!, Excite, and MSN all had to backpedal and realize that Google's simple approach was actually the best, and now they have "me-too" pages. Funny that even with Google to crib from, only Yahoo! was able to "get" the minimalist thing. You can just feel the MSN and Excite pages straining to put more there. It's like their designers were ready to burst "but, but, where's all the news stories? What about stock quotes? TV listings? Not even ONE spinning graphic? Aargh!" - supremechees, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0NO WAI!! LOLZORZ
http://digg.com/music/mutant_cheese_doodle_podcast - zatrix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0who....CARES?
- mercatroy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0oops, too late. sorry goghua
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Regardless of the reason behind the design, I must echo the sentiments of others who have mentioned that Google's emphasis on a minimalistic approach is what kept them coming back. There was NOTHING to get in the way of what you needed to accomplish, and that's still true today. But contrast, try visiting a site like newegg, where you're pretty much doing the same thing, except they hope you'll end your session with an order and a credit card number. Shopping sites like newegg are a mess and are in dire need of a complete overhaul- Google's design philosophy would be a damn good starting point.
- silentauthority, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Interesting... but I don't really care.
- Raian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+01. I feel dumber after reading this article!
2. DIE -
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