Breaking the Web With Hash-Bangs

Excellent piece by Mike Davies on the new JavaScript-dependent site structure (and URLs) used by all Gawker Media sites:

The main problem is that LifeHacker URLs now don’t map to actual content. Well, every URL references the LifeHacker homepage. If you are lucky enough to have the JavaScript running successfully, the homepage then triggers off several Ajax requests to render the page, hopefully with the desired content showing up at some point.

Far more complicated than a simple URL, far more error prone, and far brittler.

Via Jeremy Keith, who compares this style of web design to breaking Postel’s Law.

★ Wednesday, 9 February 2011