Did you ever own a directory of the web? Like this big yellow pages book with every known web page on the Internet? I did. I never used it. I guess I skimmed through it, but it was very soon out of date. Not only were half the links gone, but there were so many new sites that just weren't included. The thing is like an antique now. It'll probably be in a museum one day.

A few years later, the web got bigger and bigger. Soon it was too big to be navigated by a book, and of course search engines took over. The web was filled with many new web pages, most "Under Construction", and we were told to "Check back soon". Still, it felt like we could conceivably read the whole Internet if just given enough time. What we didn't consider was that the growth of the Internet would never stop.

Now look at where we're at. It's impossible to stay up to date on the 10 or 100 or 1000 web sites we visit without using RSS feeds. Thanks to technorati, we can see what others are saying about a topic in nearly real time. We've been forced to give up trying to "surf" the whole web, and have mostly settled down into our niches with barely enough time to do even this.

With so much information to choose from, only the very newest is often paid attention to. When you arrive at a new site, or subscribe to a new blog, do you take the time to read all the old posts? Or do you just sign up and look forward to the next posts, the newest stuff. I know I rarely have time to go back and read older stuff.

The Internet is indeed a giant repository of information, but the way many of us are using the Internet is changing along with the web itself. The blogosphere isn't just a sign of the personal web, it's also a sign of the timely web. We're less interested with what others have said about a topic, now we want to know what they've said about it lately.

A beautiful look at the web, with a reality check on just what the web is supposed to be: a collection of hyperlinked things.

Jeremy Keith's In Praise of the Hyperlink

You may not even notice right away, but I added shading to the boxes on this site. This is the final product of over three hours of working on my design.

No, I didn't struggle with making shading images for three hours. I tried to redesign my whole site from scratch. I'm getting a bit bored with seeing the same thing for over a year, and I've been told at least once that my design needs an overhaul.

I messed around with some different layouts and different looks, and some of the changes seemed good. One of my strategies was to put the side boxes with links to the bottom of the page. Although it did look a bit better and cleaner, I didn't want to lose the navigation "above the fold". I think when visitors come for the first time, these links may be the only reason they stick around.

Of all the experimenting I did, one thing was clear: I need to introduce images to add another dimension to this design. I decided that I could do this to the current design. So I did. And that's why I made the shaded boxes.

I think that rather than redesign the whole site, I'll continue to make minor improvements, move things slightly, add images, change the colours, rework the header or footer, etc. It's just too much to redo the thing from scratch, and then I'd lose all the work I've done so far.

Let me say it again in case it's not brutally obvious: I'm not a designer. I don't consider myself a designer. I have always been interested in art, and I like to draw and paint. I also know CSS inside and out. I think I know good design when I see it. But I'm no photoshop ninja. I have ideas in my head, but by the time I'm "finished" I'm looking at an ugly cheap pile of crap. This is an area I'd like to improve, but for now it's just a bit of a hobby.

Many people don't get the difference between a web developer and a web designer.. "Wait, we still have to pay someone to draw the thing? So what do you do exactly??" So maybe it would be in my best interest to tackle some web design.

If any designers out there want to pass on some tips on how to improve or which sites can teach me the tricks, I'd be very grateful.

I just wanted to give a quick congratulations to Peter-Paul Koch of QuirksBlog. He just finished a JavaScript book, ppk on JavaScript. Way to go! If you're interested in learning more about JavaScript, or, as ppk said,

if you want to congratulate me, buy the book.

Update: You can pre-order the book at Amazon.

Seth Godin gives another example of the Internet leveling the playing field. This time it's a girl named Emily finding success selling her artwork online. Seth says:

[This] should be proof to you that the whole thing is raveling (which means the same as unraveling, in case you were curious). That all the systems that kept all the processes in place and leveraged mature industries and experienced players are slowly (or quickly) filtering to the masses. Faster than you thought it would happen.

Just the other day, I saw on the CBC National a piece about a Canadian comedian, Russell Peters, who struggled to find an audience. Thanks to Google Video, his popularity has had an enormous boost. When asked about the effect of the Internet, he just said something like "that Internet thing.. I don't understand it but.. it's crazy."

Indeed, the Internet is already a place where individuals can reach wide markets and find success on their own, without the need for traditional media, Hollywood, television producers or other people in suits. The old system was great at producing one-hit-wonders that everyone liked and nobody loved. Now, there is room for everyone to find their own market, their own audience, their own place in the world.