Grandpa's Photos | Hacker News Reader

Grandpa's Photos

grandpas-photos.com

54 pointsmuratmutlu18 comments

Is this supposed to be a parody of "responsive" Javascript-intensive web design? Because as much as I know Hacker News likes to get off on ridiculously-large pictures and text with fancy scrolling and over-engineered Javascript preloaders for what could have been accomplished perfectly fine with plain HTML and CSS, this is a little much.

I like the idea. I really do. I think it's touching that you want to preserve these snippets of your grandfather's memory. That enjoyment is quickly overshadowed by this page demonstrating everything I hate about the current "responsive" "disruptive" "Valley" "mobile" fetish:

* It shouldn't take 30 seconds or more to load some pictures and text in an HTML document. Additionally, I shouldn't be sitting there the entire damn time watching some little animation spin around while it struggles to load.

* I really don't need an ugly 900pt font in order to read your homepage. While your grandpa might have poor vision that warrants that, I don't. I'd reckon the vast majority of your site's viewers would be fine with your run-of-the-mill 12pt font; people with visual impairment typically have other accessibility tools at their disposal.

* I really shouldn't have to scroll down a whole page for every single goddamn sentence on the homepage.

* The fancy "hover over this part to bring up a menu" is buggy because it overlaps with the "hover over this part to bring up an arrow" crap.

If it was simple html, it never would have made it to HN, thus not achieving as much reach. Over-engineering, or brialliant marketing?

Brilliant marketing. He also needs people to engage with the page and empathize with his grandpa. Not sure it would have been as effective at this if it had been a dull, static HTML page.

I disagree. I thought the website was very nice, easy to navigate and I found the full page photos very nostalgic looking (grainy, oversaturated ...). It evokes exactly the kind of atmosphere I would associate with a Grandpa from the 60s.

The full-page photos are fine. I have no issues with them. It's everything else that's annoying.

The large font was actually harder to read, especially as it didn't seem to have much margins. Very uncomfortable.

Such a sweet idea deserves a much better web site. A static web page with some pictures would be so much less tedious. Wanted to see if I could help but just didn't have the patience to go through the gymnastics needed to see the unobscured photos.

That loading thing is very relaxing after 1/2 hour ...

Loved the project. I do not think he is really showing his technical prowess here or the know-how of creating a responsive design. The idea is to help fine lost places in those photos. And that can only happen if one reaches a lot of people. HN is a good diverse group to do that.

Also, it really feels incredible to see how places have evolved over the times even when you have never really been to the place. Sometimes waiting isn't that bad. :)

You know what? I think it's a beautiful site. It tugs the emotions the right way, and evokes a certain feel that is probably more effective at getting people to engage and help your Grandpa identify his old photos. It also doubles as a nice showcase of your grandpa's photography.

I'm not sure it would have achieved this effect with a simple static HTML + CSS page.

> It tugs the emotions the right way

Yes, if the intended emotions were frustration and despair.

> I'm not sure it would have achieved this effect with a simple static HTML + CSS page.

Maybe not. It might require some use of Javascript to make some fancier animations and such. It could really use some reworking, though, in the sense of using HTML with a side of Javascript and CSS, rather than Javascript with a side of HTML and CSS.

The "About" page[0] is much better than the homepage, and with some reworking probably should have been used as the homepage instead. It looks so much cleaner and nicer. Incorporate some of the stuff from the homepage, and maybe one of the photos as a background, and it would be a huge improvement.

[0]:http://grandpas-photos.com/grandpas_about.html

Oh come on, IT isn't a perfect site but...despair? Really?

I disagree with you about the About page, the large picture format is so much more immersive and engaging than the tiny text on the About page, but I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

Usability is not always the only thing a website should optimize for. Sometimes beauty and a mood can be just as important, depending on the goals of the page.

> Usability is not always the only thing a website should optimize for.

Perhaps not, but completely throwing it out the window is generally not a good idea.

white page with a loading animation and a number slowly incrementing in the corner.

I dig that people found the exact location for all of these obscure photos (apart from NYC etc). Good work HN visitors.

Most unusable site evar.

I left after 2 seconds

Beautiful site and photos

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