News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by shreyshnaccount on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:23PM (#33683654)
This type of website, with just the addition responsive text, is how most of the internet should ideally be.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by johnywalks on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:30PM (#33683721)
I don't know. I really enjoy 10 popups when i visit a website.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by semicolon_storm on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:37PM (#33683802)
How else will some random news site you're visiting for the first time know whether or not you want to subscribe to their newsletter, allow them to send you notifications, and know your current precise location?
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by DwnVoteHoneyPot on Sunday November 20, 2022 @03:22PM (#33684848)
Without the pop-up he'll miss an amazing opportunity to invest to get a 3,641,613% [1] gain!!!

[1] bottom of page 2: https://berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2021ltr.pdf

Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by ohCh6zos on Sunday November 20, 2022 @03:36PM (#33684995)
I think I could use a huge call to action to instal an app to read the page I'm already on.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by Scoundreller on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:48PM (#33683902)
Would you like to signup for more popups?

"Yes" or "Not right now"?

You selected "Not right now" the last 187 thousand times in a row, but maybe today you've changed your mind.

Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by eclipticplane on Sunday November 20, 2022 @02:09PM (#33684113)
Maybe a newsletter about popups is what you're missing.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by penguin_booze on Monday November 21, 2022 @02:45AM (#33689944)
Plus the emphatic message that my privacy is of their utmost concern, is reassuring. I feel special.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by samwillis on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:35PM (#33683768)
If the web had stoped innovating and improving at this level of design it wouldn't have the GDP it does now.

Your comment would almost fit better as a reply on the linked page from this other front page post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33680661

Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by FormerBandmate on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:43PM (#33683863)
There’s a reason Geico or Duracell’s websites (both incredibly famous Berkshire companies) don’t look like this. Berkshire is essentially an unorthodox investment fund, all of their websites are pretty sparse
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by JadeNB on Sunday November 20, 2022 @02:06PM (#33684075)
> There’s a reason Geico or Duracell’s websites (both incredibly famous Berkshire companies) don’t look like this. Berkshire is essentially an unorthodox investment fund, all of their websites are pretty sparse

Of course there's a reason, but that doesn't mean there's a good reason. Big commercial websites do not choose their design out of a desire best to serve their customers, but out of a desire best to attract attention and to funnel that attention towards their ends—and what a website most wants us to do is not necessarily what is best for us to do.

Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by orangepurple on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:45PM (#33683879)

  But even if we act to erase material poverty, there is another greater task, it is to confront the poverty of satisfaction - purpose and dignity - that afflicts us all.  Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.  Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product - if we judge the United States of America by that - that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.  It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them.  It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.  It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities.  It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.  Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials.  It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.  And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-famil...
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by JadeNB on Sunday November 20, 2022 @02:10PM (#33684122)
> If the web had stoped innovating and improving at this level of design it wouldn't have the GDP it does now.

But maybe not everyone's priority is maximising the GDP of the web? (I'm not even sure what the 'D' there means, but I'm trying to take the comment in the spirit in which it must have been meant rather than excessively literally.)

Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by nickelpro on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:30PM (#33683720)
Please no, I like interesting and engaging design
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by DiggyJohnson on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:38PM (#33683815)
I just don’t see much “interesting and engaging design” that isn’t riddled with horrible performance or ridiculous dark patterns. The Reddit redesign is a perfect example of the former, and newsletter popups are an example of the latter.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by semicolon_storm on Sunday November 20, 2022 @01:43PM (#33683865)
The problem is when interesting and engaging design starts taking priority over functionality. This is fine for entertainment focused sites that are meant to capture your attention and help you burn some time. This is terrible for sites that fulfill some real purpose. For example, I don't want my healthcare website to have a flashy design, I want it to just work in a reliable way.
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by JYellensFuckboy on Sunday November 20, 2022 @03:46PM (#33685095)
This web design reminds me a lot of when Apple "bravely" removed the 3.5mm AUX jack from the iPhone. Everyone scorned and mocked their simplified design, then copied it a year later. However, I don't know if there's anything equivalent to forcing companies to make better Bluetooth headsets in this case - maybe making people appreciate big fonts more?
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by breck on Sunday November 20, 2022 @02:25PM (#33684288)
Our site is even better. I made sure the page was less tall so it fits on one screen without scrolling: https://publicdomaincompany.com/
Re:Berkshirehathaway.com by mhh__ on Sunday November 20, 2022 @02:35PM (#33684424)
Still has some ads though