So slashdot.org is now running a CSS / HTML 4.01 solution that generates nice, snappy pages with quick load time. It uses less bandwidth than before, and is mostly standards compliant. Except, there’s a catch. Using the free load time analysis tool I found online, I found the following breakdown:

HTML: 11792
HTML Images: 1859
CSS Images: 0
Total Images: 1859
Javascript: 23469
CSS: 507
Multimedia: 0
Other: 0

Wow… 23kb of javascript! Where does slashdot use javascript? Well, they use it to serve all their ads, of course. Let’s look at a graph:

Now, ask yourself the following question:

Do I want to visit a website that is composed of 63% advertising?

For more information on the Slashdot CSS story from different perspectives, please see:

• weblogs.macromedia.com/jd/archives/2005/09/slashdot_css.cfm
• www.gabrielserafini.com/archives/2005/09/22/sure-sign-that-the-apocolypse-is-near-slashdot-goes-to-clean-html-401-css
• www.raphil.org/archives/2005/09/slashdot_is_sta.html
• www.downloadsquad.com/2005/09/06/slashdot-finally-going-css-needs-beta-testers/

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at 11:37 am and is tagged with different perspectives, html images, css images, beta testers, apocolypse, time analysis, slashdot, load time, analysis tool, graph, bandwidth, cfm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback.

2 Responses to “Slashdot Redesigns: What’s the cost?”

1. Doug Clifton says:

   9/23/2005 at 10:01 pm

   I see some ads around here too. Or wait, maybe I don’t. You gotta love Firefox.

   Reply
2. Marco says:

   9/23/2005 at 2:08 pm

   I got bored with slashdot years and years ago. The site, the design, the content and the audience as well. I guess I’m not enough of a nerd to keep liking that site…

   Reply