>Frankly I've never understood what's so transhuman about making
minimal use of webpage->enhancing technologies.
Because, in the last year (so it seems) they've become permeated by people with the usual cretinous method of achieving a sense of elitism - just like the lifelong store clerks that constantly moan on about how stupid people are. "Academic" style things, for instance, have to be presented in a manner as displeasing to the eye as is possible. Firstly, a nice small font to make you squint, then a collection of horrendous annotations, and most importantly, the most esoteric vocabulary that can be dredged up. This makes all concerned - author, readers etc.. very pleased with themselves that they are privvy to such intellectual material. It also makes it totally unpalatable to the average person, cutting accessibility, and so preserving the elite.
Another example is the computer dweeb that swears blind that he hates GUIs, and much prefers CLI. This is as transparent as hell. Comp dweebs that are particularly sad love to feel superior through their computer knowledge. With a CLI, any operation means having to know the relevant command, acceptable parameters and so on. This takes a lot of time - which is the edge that dweebs with no lives have over ordinary people. So they learn all the ins and outs of these CLI languages like UNIX, rattling out 5 line commands full of grep's and squiqqly things, feeling all intelligent, as the layman onlooker is (supposed to be) impressed. Now here comes the new user-friendly GUI ! Watch the geeks' faces drop as their 5 line wonders become meaningless, with an equivalent function available at a mouse click. They hate this new universal accessibility, and try to promote the old system - by "hating" GUIs and constantly professing the wonders of CLI.
My basic point is this - the only, and I mean ONLY reason that anyone would want to make something look/feel extra drab or laborious is to cut it's accessibility, probably to preserve their sense of elitism. Some may not even realise this much. They may merely have previously associated drab, inaccessible crap with the kind of ostentatious intellectual status they are trying to attain....."oh, that's much too colourful and vulgar....".
The academics will soon feel the pain of the computer geek, as people such as myself point out that allowing certain people an information/power monopoly merely so that those involved can feel like the big monkeys in the jungle, is totally unacceptable. Out with the old, in with the new, power to the people right on, blah, blah.........
Rob. Ranting for you....everyday *bing bong*.
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