Lauching Browser.Observer in Beta
Posted by Declan Chidlow
Like many a browser, this site is launching in beta. It is my pleasure to open the gates and welcome you to Browser.Observer!
Rather than letting it rot upon localhost and allowing me to get up into my own head, twisting and warping ideas that seem good at the time but to any outsider are nothing more than the befuddled delusions of a stimulant-driven fool, I’m choosing to catapult this onto the net.
As the saying goes, ‘First, make it exist. You can make it good later.’
What is Browser.Observer?
Browser.Observer is a compendium of knowledge about browsers and the engines that power them
It isn’t just about recent changes, though. There are plenty of cases where older browsers or browser engines are still in active use – often in critical environments – and where information about them is still needed. Take Internet Explorer, for example, which technically won’t be completely out of support until 2032, when Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021’s support ends, and even then there is potential for extensions for some companies.
Unfortunately, information on the web link rots. A 2024 study from SaaS marketing platform ahrefs found:
Since January 2013, 66.5% of the links pointing to the 2,062,173 websites we sampled have rotted. We found another 6.45% with temporary errors. We don’t know if they’re still there or not.
Changelogs and information about browsers are no exemption to this. In my own writings focusing on historical browsers, I’ve found myself having to trawl through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine for the bulk of information. Much of the information is gone, completely and entirely. Never archived and lost to the ages.
More still is out there, but nigh-impossible to find. The sites hosting the content have long since shut, as have the sites that linked to them, and the sites that linked to those sites. The information exists, but tracking it down is a gargantuan effort through a maze that isn’t even guaranteed to have a completion.
Why open in beta?
The question one might ask is, ‘Why not wait until the site is done and ready to launch it? Why a beta?’
Well, Browser.Observer is certainly not doing any good sitting on my laptop. Getting it live, functional and into the hands of people, even in an unfinished state, is at least somewhat beneficial to the wider web.
Ultimately, Browser.Observer is a resource for people to benefit from, and it should be built and designed in consultation with everyone who will be using it. Opening it early allows people to influence it’s direction before the concrete sets.
I’m also a strong believer in the concept of building in public. Creating something out in the open allows people to see how the sausage is made, and allows others to chip in early, if they’re so inclined.
Not only does building in public get the site out sooner, but it is also major for my motivation. To see it in the wild is a great encouragement and with the great deal of tedious data entry required for such a project, that is very welcome.