I plan to keep this a minimalist website for a couple of reasons.
First of all, I like it. It is clean and easy to look at. It is a break from the oversaturation that frequently appears on our screens. There is so. much. information. coming down the pipe these days. Sometimes I just want a little respite, y'know? Being online doesn't have to mean bathing in images and videos all the time. You can also just, read. I must admit, it is actually a bit strange to see text going most of the way across the screen, since so much of what we see is kept tidy within the limits of the feed boundary, allowing space for all sorts of shenanigans on the side.
There are also more practical reasons for such a basic approach. Bandwidth is cheap...until it isn't, because you are a video streaming service. I like efficiency. I like technology too, but it is frustrating how inefficient our implementations can get. Many websites and apps have become bloated with bells and whistles that just aren't necessary. When we use them, we are using bandwidth, which is a real-life resource. Everything that your computer does costs electricity. Every piece of data sent to your computer over the Net, also comes with a cost. There's a server that runs on electricity, and all the infrastructure in between that carries your beloved information which also runs on electricity. It isn't magic. Somewhere, a natural resource is being used to power this functionality.
It may not be as big a driver of global warming as straight-up emissions from your car, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be the worst offender for us to still want to improve it. Learning to do things efficiently in one area helps to inform you in all others. And given the flexibility of computing, it is hard to come up with a good excuse for bloat. You can't just walk outside and modify your car to be more efficient (at least, I can't). But we programmed our websites and apps to have all those bells and we can just as easily remove them. OK, there are large structures that would be much harder to change... but let's be real, the lack of change is really because the companies behind those structures are making hella ca$h and simply don't care how much data is being transmitted. It doesn't cost them enough to care. If a country can be exploited for cheap electricity, environment be damned, we're gonna mine them coins.
I prefer lightweight design. I like visiting a site and seeing it load in a fraction of a second. Using only what is needed. Keeping it simple. As we head into full climate chaos we're all going to get this idea rammed into our consciousness if it isn't there already. And meanwhile I think we'll realize that, hey, I don't get a headache from looking at this text-only website. That's kind of nice!
People use the internet without being able to see a screen. And, that number is much higher than the amount of people who live without any vision at all. Anyone who has trouble deciphering what is on a screen may depend on a screen-reader to relay the information through audio or braille... it could be due to limited vision or motor control, dyslexia, being a non-native speaker, preferring to listen rather than read, or a range of other reasons. It is so easy to forget this if it isn't directly part of YOUR online experience. I forgot, and will admit that it wasn't really part of my initial goal for this site, even though a couple months ago I read all about Alter Aeon, a text-based online game with a significant amount of players using readers (apparently, these players were organically congregating around it and so the developers worked to improve the game's accessibility. Nice!). Considering this block of users, and just the general idea of making sites easy to navigate and digest, is worthwhile for at least millions of people.
(written 7/31/24)
(updated 8/1/24, accessibility section)