Today I ran across a couple of instances where a website required a browser plugin.

The first one was for a QuickTime plugin, the second one was for Flash plugin.

Why do web designers need to show such glitzy stuff?

I guess I'm a bit of a renaissance man in this sense. I like simplicity. I like things to load quickly, display quickly. I'm not so much impressed with fancy design, as I am with quality content that's easy to read, and easy to find.

When I see this stuff on my browser, asking me to download a plugin, the first thing I think of is, "How cheesy! Whoever designed this site actually thinks they're sophisticated"...


Well, I'm rebelling against the onslaught of browser plugins. I refuse to install them. If you can't design something to render in IE or Firefox without the use of a plugin, then you're obviously not thinking about usability.

Remember all those sites years ago that would publish a little blurb that said, "Best Viewed on IE at 800x600"? And didn't you think that was stupid too?

That plugin message is kinda saying the same stupid thing.

I remember back when Google was just starting gain traction. At that time, all it had was its search engine. And everyone loved it claiming that it was more accurate than Alta Vista, and Inktomi. Remember those two?

But I think the real reason why people liked it was because it was so simple. Google's home page was so easy. The search results was so simple. And it was fast, blazingly fast. Honestly, I don't think people cared about how accurate it was, they just loved the usability.

These days, it seems people want their websites to look sharp, beautiful, like the office of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. Whatever happened to the small town family doctor, the guy who actually knew you, and was always curious to know what you've been up to?

Those days of the Internet seem to be gone. Back when content was real. Today, content is a commodity. They still say that content is king, but in truth, the content is always the afterthought. It's how professional your website looks, it's if you have an "Inc." after your name, it's if you're on the A-list. That's what seems to sell now.

Here's the sad reality: People actually think your content is more trustworthy if the website it's published on looks professional and sharp.

To prove that, think about how people judge other people, by their character, or their looks? I think if you relate that to content, you'll agree with what I'm saying.

So if I can say something about browser plugins, it's to avoid designing stuff that requires them. I don't want to download plugin-after-plugin just so that I can view your website the way you want me to view it. I just want to see the content.

As an affiliate marketer, and a publisher, I want to make sure my website visitors feel encouraged to peruse my pages, and build links to my sites from their blogs, forums, and tweets. Make it as easy as possible for them to do so.  ✓