Still in the game

My thoughts echo somewhat those of my classmates that have posted entries concerning the overwhelming choice of web technologies available to us today. I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one that occasionally pines for the good old days of plain html with a side of simple scripty goodness all held together by a carefully arranged table layout. Sigh. Those were the days.

Those were the days. Of simple, yet function-limited web sites. Remember when the Amazon.com site, for example, burst on the scene and they had a, gasp, shopping cart? And suddenly everyone was scrambling to learn cgi so they could re-write their sites to include cart and check out ability? Which also meant they probably needed a database backend? That technology has grown and improved over years and I’m not sure that if I had even learned those “advanced” coding techniques back then that I’d still be able to keep up with the latest versions today.

However, all of this to say, I’m not disheartened by the progress in web design, coding, and backend development; rather, I’m enthusiastic about it and what it means for the future. I get excited about the technology when I see events such as this being offered. I’d absolutely love to attend this event and be surrounded by the icons in the industry and soak up all they have to offer. Oh the possibilities! What I could learn! I fantasize for a few minutes about attending the conference, but then reality sets in. My rose-colored fantasy takes on a sepia-toned hue as I begin to imagine myself at the conference, surrounded by techies and terms, and ideas, and exciting Web 2.0 code that I don’t quite get, but wow I can see how that would be beneficial and hmm, why didn’t I ever learn this in the first place…and then I remember why I didn’t learn it in the first place: because there are only 24 hours in a day! And I’m busy maintaining my “perfectly” cobbled-together Web 1.0 sites (okay, some may pre-date that). I do however, acknowledge that there is room for improvement and that if I want to stay in the game of web design, I better learn what I can, when I can, and most importantly, apply it. So, projects like the IMU are perfect for me – if I can learn (or improve) and apply just one new technology that I haven’t learned before, then I feel like I’m still in the game, just moving a little slower, but not completely benched.