Monday, April 18, 2005

The perils of popularity

No, I'm not speaking about myself. I know full well my audience can be counted on one hand. Instead, I refer to certain website that I discovered years ago that I had grown quite fond of and revisited now and again. It's called "Just Pooh", and is one man's dedication to the stories of A.A. Milne in all their various forms. The design of the site was a delight to behold, looking as it did like an open book in shades of brown. It was easy on the eyes, thematically fit the subject matter, and was easy to navigate through simple icons located on the left hand side. Such simplicity and elegance is rarely seen on the web these days.

You probably have noticed two things about my entry so far: (A) I am speaking in the past tense and (B) I have yet to hyperlink the site. The reason for this is that recently, due to I assume an increase in traffic and/or a decrease in funds, the webmaster decided to host ads on his site. And not just any ads, but big, honking, flashing obnoxious ads that feature pictures of Angelina Jolie and Paris Hilton. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was heartbroken upon seeing this change for the first time. The original design elements are still there, but the ads make the site as a whole a shadow of its former self.

You may think I am over-reacting at such a thing as a website, but beauty in all of it's forms is to be admired and enjoyed (Note to married men: this does not give you permission to blatantly ogle other women). I am posting a link here for the simple fact that content alone makes the site a valuable resource, but the joy I once experienced from my occasional visit is now gone.

And just as a side note: I can certainly understand ads for such things as Netflix and video game systems, but are there really people out there that are foaming at the bit for screensavers and animated emoticons? If so, then I wish to revise my statement in my previous post about not having a life. Comparatively, I'm Ernest Friggin Hemingway.

No comments: