JavaScript is not the enemy here, it's very possible and easy to make full SPAs with judicious use of micro libs, lazy loading of images/assets, non-blocking styles/fonts/code, and ad-free. The problem is just not caring or knowing - misuse of the technology, rather than the technology itself.
Agreed. I really enjoy building static websites. With no databases, no server-side logic or caching, everything becomes extremely fast and simple. It does mean moving any logic to the client-side with Javascript though.
Lazy loading really sucks when you're left with a blurry image because it timed out while serving the full image (can happen even with an acceptable connection).
Unless it's really clever I'd prefer if they just let the browser do it's thing with an img tag, because that worked fine in the 56K times.
I completely agree. I think the problem is that bad designers are misusing a good tool. It's like salt: If I add a little to my meal, it makes it better. If I add a LOT of it to my meal, it doesn't keep getting better.
Unfortunately this causes a knee-jerk reaction to anything JS. Although I don't think JS is to blame, I think the hatred of JS comes from a good reason.
