A List Apart 4.0
11:26 PM - August 24th, 2005
For the uninitiated, A List Apart is a web magazine for web designers. It was THE place to be when CSS layouts first hit the scene. It’s activity has waned in recent years, but that in no way diminishes what it has done for the web designer community.
A List Apart (ALA) relaunched (yet again) a couple days ago with a new look, a new feel, a new CMS… well, basically new everything. It was like seeing an old friend again and being surprised by how different, yet familiar they looked.
Me and ALA go back many years. I was only two years into this “web thing” when we first crossed paths. “Dump tables for CSS layouts,” ALA said. “To hell with bad browsers,” ALA said. I was intrigued—I mean, how could I not be? I was knee-deep in tables wondering if there will ever be a better way.
Four years later, I’m not really much of a web designer anymore—meaning that I no longer consider it a possible career, just a hobby. I stopped my weekly visits to ALA awhile ago, partly because of its on-again, off-again activity and partly because I knew most of what I needed to know as a hobbyist. Seeing ALA again feels like a chance encounter with a friend I knew long ago.
It’s nice to catch up. It’s nice to talk about the things that have changed and the things that have stayed the same. ALA no longer has that edgy / hip / in-your-face look that I first saw, but the content is as intriguing as ever. What’s this issue’s hook? “Be your own client,” ALA says.