IN MY OPINION_

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My View On Computers and the Future

      Netscape Communications had announced in late March 1998 a radical new strategy for their next-generation browser groupware, Communicator 5.0. They have released the Communicator source code to the public domain. This means every hacker dude on the net can download it and modify it to his/her heart's content. While this may introduce some Navigator knockoffs to the market, Netscape is betting that programmers everywhere will contribute their ideas to make the best Netscape browser ever. It's a concept that harks back to the Wild West days of the net, a concept that quality "open source" projects such as the Linux OS currently enjoy.

     So far, tens of thousands of potential code warriors have downloaded the Mozilla code, opening the doors to an immense wealth of creativity and technical skill. Updates and fixes appear on the Mozilla.org site by the minute. If Netscape can organise these endeavours, the potential Communicator has is mind-boggling.

     While I am not much of a programmer, I do have my own little wishlist. If you can program, feel free to try these out. Perhaps they may be far-fetched, but they may become reality. There's no such thing as a stupid idea, only ideas left unsaid.

1. Turn Heads with Netscape: Users of WinAmp have the ability to customise the "skin", or interface, of their MP3 player - its colours, buttons, digital readouts, everything. Why not skins for Netscape? It could generate a whole industry of skin artists. What the hey, why not also slap on custom sound effects for startup, completed download, etc., just like ICQ? Make Netscape fun!

2. Showing Off your Features: Did you know that Netscape 4 can be displayed in a full-screen kiosk mode, or can adjust font sizes on the fly? How about the fact Netscape can auto-resume most interrupted downloads, or has an enhanced Save As… function that will save a webpage and all pictures connected to it? Most people don't, because they're all hidden in the Help file, or in some dark corner of some menu. Why this smoke and mirrors? Show them off and make them more visible because they're awesome features.

3. My Buttons on my Toolbar: The topmost toolbar with the Back and Stop buttons has so much space to the right of it. People should be allowed to stick their own icons up there, rather than relegate them to the cramped third class Personal Toolbar. Netscape can make the icons compatible with the platform's format, so you can choose any picture you want, or even drag a shortcut off the desktop onto the bar. Users can then keep their personal links and get rid of an extra toolbar, freeing up more space for content.

4. View Source (and edit it too): By default, this function will load Netscape's internal HTML code viewer. It looks great all colour-coded, but who cares? For people proofreading their own code, a text editor is much more useful, ala Internet Explorer and Notepad. I know, you can make Netscape load Notepad too, but that setting is once again buried somewhere in the Preferences. Now, a colour-coded text editor would be a great idea, a true best of both worlds.

5. Favourites to Bookmarks: If MSIE can import bookmarks, Navigator should be able to import favourites. It'll be a nifty utility, great for converts making the jump to Netscape.

6. Accessibility: Ever run into a page that had light grey text on dark grey background? Or ones with 120k animated backgrounds? Cyber-eyesores can never be avoided. What your browser can do is contain an optional Accessibility toolbar, where you can shut pictures off, abort misbehaving JavaScripts, freeze animations or use your own colour settings at the click of a button. A zoom tool would also be a boon for reading fine print.

7. Composer: This HTML editor is just plain bad. One annoying feature is that it reformats all your previous code from an opened file, messing up the layout. It's almost as bad as Frontpage. Make it suck less.

8. Rework the Tables: Netscape's definition of the table is too rigid. Only in 4.x can you place JavaScript writing in tables, and you still can't define any font characteristics for a table just by enclosing it in FONT tags. The worse thing is the fact Navigator will not display the contents of a table until it is fully loaded. For pages that use tables as a layout or cram a table with many graphics, loading seems to take an eternity. Netscape, please fix this.

9. One Size Fits Many: Netscape should roll out different versions of Netscape: the Navigator stand-alone, Communicator with just Mail and News, and a full deluxe edition with Composer, Aurora (the active desktop), perhaps FTP, ICQ, finger and telnet programs, and other bells and whistles. And hopefully the setup program will let you pick and choose what components to install this time.

10. The Simple Things: Finally, I wish that Netscape 5 is smaller, uses less resources, loads faster and crashes less often. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?

     For now, we have to settle for Communicator 4.5. However, an alpha release of the layout engine, Netscape Gecko, looks quite promising. It's got true CSS2, HTML 4.0 and XML support, it's lightning fast, and it's only 1.5 megs. Looking good, guys.

     If 4.5 can be considered a mere small step, 5.0 can very well be the giant leap, and definitely worth the wait. [imo]

imo back issues

• March 96 Net.Censorship: Electronic Book Burning An examination of the much-reviled Communications Decency Act, why it is wrong, and how it will fail.
• June 96 Trends in Operating Systems for the Future What is in store for us in the next generation OS? No one can be sure, but perhaps the latest operating systems in use in the present may shed some clues on its performance and versatility.
• July 96 The Wonderful World of Email How to make electronic mail productive and polite messages in electronic mail, a medium where etiquette and common sense is often not applied.
• August 96 Revolution and Evolution at COMDEX/Canada 96 My annual report of COMDEX/Canada, held at the Metro Convention Centre and SkyDome here in downtown Toronto from July 10-12. This is THE computer expo to see the latest gadgets and cutting edge software.
• September 96 BBSs and Dinosaurs With the boom of the Internet, what is the lowly BBS's role in this brave new world? Are they doomed to disappear, or is the Internet the best thing that could have happened to them?
• April 97 Three Cheers for the Mouse An ode to the greatest peripheral since the keyboard, plus quick tips to give your computer mouse a much-needed cleaning.
• June 97 Changing the Ways of the Web New technologies on the WWW are going to change the way you browse.
• August 97 Business as Usual at COMDEX/Canada 97 My second annual trip showed more refinement than innovation in computers.
• October 97 Web Editors: Your Tools to Creation Making webpages involve a lot more smarts than a good authoring program.
• December 97 Reader Beware What to do with forwards, junk mail, and chain letters.

imo upcoming issue: february 1998

A toast to the computer games that brought us countless hours of joy, and revolutionized the gaming industry.

"What...is it good for?"
--Engineer on the microchip, Advanced Computing Systems Division, IBM, 1968

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
--Ken Olson, Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"Email is a totally unsaleable product."
--Ian Sharp, Sharp Associates, 1979

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
--Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp., 1981

HoTaMaLe! Gregory Lam's Website
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