This week’s Teapot Topic* was a bit of a letdown for us. Perhaps it was because we’re used to Jakob’s bluster about useability, or perhaps it’s because there was nobody besides Mr. Nielsen who was willing to take up the "web design is dead" side of the issue. At any rate, there were a few snarky posts, some obvious observations, and at least one parody – but nothing like the general handwringing that is the hallmark of a good community crisis. Instead, we learned that you have to judge a web site like a dog show. According to Vincent over at the self-titled webpagesthatsuck, at a dog show breeds are broken down into the following groups:
- Sporting
- Hound
- Working
- Terrier
- Toy
- Non-sporting
- Herding
We (grudgingly) agree with Vincent on this, and after much discussion, we’ve decided that we are probably in the “Toy” category (not in the sense of “Toy” breeds of dogs, but in the “fun but useless” sense), and that most portals could be considered “Herding” sites. Clearly Jakob would rather see everyone lumped into the “Working” category, but the Sporting dogs just keep whizzing on his leg. What we really want to know is – {what kind of dog is your website?}
*Teapot Topic: Topics that generate a lot of sound and fury, but ultimately signify nothing. Use it this week in your favorite web log/forum. We’ll be sure to spread some inter-linky blog lovin’ to our memetic virus carriers.