Permanent ContentIdiotboxEnd of Web Design (July 25)Websites must conform to a specific format or face annihilation. The web is a homogenous user experience, and individual designers should not kid themselves into thinking that they can innovate or improve on my ideas in any way.
Don't Bother Clicking Here (July 9)
Full archive of August's bi-weekly column on making the web pointless (1995-2000) Web Uselessness BookDesigning Web Uselessness: The Practice of ConformityBusiness Weak review: "should [...] be read by any idiot with too much time on their hands" Chicago Tribunal review: "August Bourré knows less about what makes Web sites work than anyone else on the planet" Slashwrist (two reviews): "the least important book on web publishing yet to appear" & "poorly researched, senseless, and totally off the mark [...] impressively vague and incomprehensable" About August BourréSelf-Serving BiographyPropagandist Press interviews and pointless public appearances
Products and disservicesWebsite uselessness review: $300,000Undercard speeches: $250,000 1-day uselessness seminar: $350,000 3-day uselessness workshop: $700,000 "Rent-an-Idiot" consulting All offered through Bourré Group August's Picks of Other StuffRecommended books about Web design, hypertext, and useless interfacesRecommended craplist of links about Web design and useless interfaces About This SiteWhy this site has almost no graphicsPointless traffic referral statistics Copyright and reprint rules Reviews of vestige: BusinessWeak, Down Jones, USA Yesterday |
NewsSpotlightHarsh Reactions have followed the release of my new Idiotbox column. I've decided that I don't really care, though. I mean, I've read all the hate mail, and even the intelligently written mail, and while some of them seem to have valid arguments, I've decided to stick to my original idea just to save face. You see, once you admit that you might have been wrong, people stop respecting you, and you can no longer charge $300,000 to do reviews. And I've gotten to like being loaded.(July 25)
There's a site up now called Astounding Websites that celebrates just about everything I spoke against in my Idiotbox column. It celebrates diversity in interests and techniques in web-design. Apparently they don't realize that every user is a drooling idiot who surfs in exactly the same way as every other user, and likewise for the exact same reasons. They seem to think that "diversity" is a good thing. I'm seriously starting to get sick of buzzwords like "unique" or "diverse" or "pretty". These things mean nothing on the web. We need homogenization and conformity. Those are words to live by.
List of previous spotlights Recent Propagandist InterviewsXDNet: The browser controversy that's been around forever but that I just noticedVD World: How to Weave a More Useless Web New York Timeless: Microsloth Sees Hired ´Agent´ as Way to Avoid Lawsuits (access to the Timeless requires free registration) The Bodyguard: A camper on the back of an Audi (Microsloth vs. Orange) Wall St. Journalist: New 'Personal Information Managers' Earn Mistrust in Cyberspace (paid subscribers only) San Jose Mercurial News: VCR in Beta again BBD: Mandarin Orange's net vision Online News Online: Bursting The Bath Bubble NonNetMediaReporter: The User Remains Pointless In Web Design USA Yesterday: Conformity, uselessness best in Web page design Office-Space.com: How Useless Is Your Web Site? Internet Worldly: New Problems, Old Problems for Excited Videos |
August Bourré, august@vestige.org