[cousin_it]

We should make a website that does everything in the opposite way:

1) Require adblock

2) Banner saying the website doesn't use cookies, which goes away if you mouseover

3) If you're on mobile, show a banner saying the website doesn't have an app

4) A signup form, but when you try to focus it, it turns into a banner saying "jk this website doesn't have signup"

[Fnoord]

I like your idea, but it depends on what you see as "the opposite". There's already an opposite in existence:

1) Not complain about adblock (ie. silently allow it instead of moaning).

2) Simply don't use cookies.

3) Don't mention app (which is often just an Electron frontend anyway) in any way.

4) Allow the website to be used without signing up.

These 4 examples used to be the default back in the early days of the WWW.

[xenocyon]

I rather miss those early days. Web 1.0 is looked down on for its visual clutter (and definitely the hatred of image backgrounds and animated text was well-deserved), but Web 2.0 has just as much if not more clutter, and of a darker nature.

[l0b0]

The current web isn't anything like Web 2.0. Web 2.0 never happened, except in tiny isolated pockets. It's a terrible name anyway - it indicates a natural progression (which never happened), a clear improvement (which didn't materialize quickly enough for anyone important to care) and incompatibility with the past (which was never necessary since semantic components can be embedded in a normal web site). We're currently at Web √(-2) alpha-Google-2-Facebook-4-patched-0af33cd.

[efitz]

It boggles the mind to think of how much resources (time and money) have been spent so that control freak corporations can control my user experience from the server when I have a rich client under my control.

The whole web is backwards these days; users should’ve able to download themes for different kinds of content and the content itself should be barely human readable self-describing text with no layout instructions, only hints (like title and h1 and p)- leave it to the client to choose how to display.

[jrumbut]

I think it's extremely important that the text going around on the web be human readable and notepad editable. It really lowers the bar to start creating content rather than just consuming it.

Obviously it's a minority that do, but the potential itself has value I think.

[lbotos]

So, I'm younger, but there was absolutely a shift in thinking from web 1.0 to 2.0 in that 2006-2008 era. You could even call it the Ajaxian era. http://ajaxian.com/

I read that blog every day and the techniques and tooling (jquery/mootools/etc) absolutely shifted the thinking that birthed our "modern" react/vue style single page app.

This is like saying that Classical -> Baroque never happened because people still paint in a Classical style.

[l0b0]

No, what happened was that a lot of people said "web 2.0!", a bunch of other people said "AJAX!", and only the AJAX thing actually happened. Web 2.0 meant the semantic web, not the asynchronously loaded web.

[Crinus]

For as far as i remember 'web 2.0' meant replicating Mac OS X's Aqua on the web (very poorly, of course) with gradients and shadows (not necessarily through CSS, thanks to IE6, but it helped) and unnecessary javascript everywhere.

[TheRealSteel]

My favourite sites are Hacker News, and similarly reddit with the old design and custom themes turned off. Functional, clean, content focused, and high - but not too high - information density. There are changes I would make to both, but there are reasons I got addicted to them.

[smoyer]

My kids always insisted on using the blink and marquee tags together :O

[pbhjpbhj]

But how else could you make sure people knew your content was coming soon!?!

[retzkek]

"Under construction" gifs of course!

[thedaemon]

Relevant website with most of the under constructions GIFs. http://textfiles.com/underconstruction/

[dwild]

I'm way too much nostalgic right now.

[pubkraal]

I’m not sure why the overlords of HTML had to remove blink in the first place.

I have a daily need for both tags.

[bcheung]

5) High-contrast motion graphic ads right next to what you are trying to read.

[kekebo]

maybe: 2) only works with cookies disabled for the site

otherwise:

5) works better with Javascript disabled

6) works better in Firefox than Chrome

7) doesn't work if it can read your referer

[OJFord]

> 5) works better with Javascript disabled

Ironically, I find there's (broadly) two sorts of JS-enabled website:

- completely broken without (often just a blank canvas) - works better without than with

The most entertaining 'works better' example I've had is a site that gave me a free upgrade, because I was blocking client-side price manipulation.

Google Maps however: block canvas fingerprinting, and it's Goodbye CPU!

[jonas21]

Google Maps uses the Canvas API to draw the map. If you disable it, what do you expect to happen?

[OJFord]

It still works (perhaps only some of the API deemed 'fingerprinty' is blocked, I don't know) - slowly - it just shoots CPU usage up and battery down.

[kevingadd]

Server side map tile rasterization like the old days, maybe

[avip]

And a mandatory "Please disable javascript"

[yoz-y]

How about having the Log In dialog prominent and the Sign Up dialog more in the background.

I sign up only once, yet every website makes it hard to find the login dialog which I use way more often.

[pvg]

5) Just sends you a newsletter

[itronitron]

or is just stapled to the telephone pole on the corner