Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by throwaway161220 3465 days ago
> As an aside I always kind of wondered why all browsers started including developer tools by default as they are not of use to 99.9% of users.

I wish this wasn't the case, but I use built-in devtools inspector to work around bad websites that impose invisible ad overlays which are somehow not caught by the combo of uMatrix+uBlockOrigin. I have to use the Inspector to select and delete the overlay so that I can use such sites. Thus DevTools serve a purpose to non-development browser sessions.
1 comments
nommm-nommm 3465 days ago
Oh yea, for sure, I do the same. I especially modify the DOM to get around "lol, no copying into this form field." That's not really the point I'm trying to make though, 99.9% of users don't have the know-how to do this. You pretty much have to be a web developer to be able to use the browser this way.
link
mgbmtl 3465 days ago
I agree, although it helps lower the barrier to entry, so that 99% might become 95% or 90%. More than a few times, I showed people a few simple tricks in the Inspector. They felt empowered and it encouraged some of them to continue digging on their own.

Sure, they could install an addon, but that can be very intimidating if they have never done so. If I "wanted to show them a quick trick", I would have already lost their attention completely by the time the addon is installed.

link