Ok so at this stage in my life I have two things I spend a lot of time doing:
Making WordPress websites and mobile apps that use the WP-API
Listening to hip hop music
Anyone who keeps up with hip hop is probably aware of the divide that is being created between this newest generation of ‘mumble rappers’ and the old gaurd. No wrapper probably typifies this divide than Lil Uzi Vert.
via GIPHY
To be honest the first time I heard Uzi (the song: now I do what i want), I didn’t really like it. I found the lyrics repetitive and I felt like the songs lacked ‘musicality’ compared with say Jay-Z, Kanye or Cole. Also the whole look & themes are totally different, its almost closer to 80’s rock and roll than the rap game I’ve come to love.
Then I was kicking a soccer ball with my kids and I just kept finding myself going ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’ a la Uzi. What was happening to me? I wanted to listen to more mumble rap! Then I heard this song and I was hooked – I still think it’s the best of song of the year.
Lil Uzi Vert – XO Tour Life
Of course there is a massive divide in the Rap community, just check out this video:
The Idiocy of Mumble Rappers – nuff said
Enter Gutenberg for WordPress
Gutenberg (what I am using to write this post) has only been around for a few months and already its dividing the community. I mean just check out these plugin reviews:
Terrible Experience
This is a new era for WordPress
I think you get the idea.
Personally, I like Gutenberg. As somebody who dreads writing anything, I do feel like Gutenberg makes things just that little bit easier. My mind naturally breaks text into blocks and this plays nicely into GB.
The more I use it (& learn how to use it) the more I prefer it over the old editor. It is also a testament to the team developing this plugin that I jumped straight into writing with Gutenberg without reading any documentation or watching tutorials etc.
What's causing the divide then?
I think that parallels can be drawn with the Mumble Rap divide. There tends to be a nature in humans that as we get use something more and more we tend to attach to it. New ideas tend to be disruptive and can also be disrepectful to the foundations of those ideas. Mumble rappers seem disrespectful to the old guard because they represent something totally different to their core set of beliefs, and this disrespect goes back the other – this causes a divide.
I don’t think this is really a preference thing, most peoples problems with Gutenberg is that the message is the same B.S. message squarespace, wix, and all the rest of these “web builder” services: Make it so easy that anybody can build your own website. As far as most web developers are concerned this premise is so flawed as to totally laughable. The last thing the world needs is more page builder garbage. It will just lead to more poorly designed and poorly thought out websites. Clients suck at art, clients suck at design. That is why there are professional designers. Clients suck at UX. That is why there are UX professionals. Clients suck at developing websites. That is why there are professional developers. It’s one thing if Gutenberg is just used for a personal blog. But for a fully featured and developed corporate website its total garbage and pretty much all professional developers recognize that. THAT is why Gutenberg pisses so many people off. I guarantee you Gutenberg will not be widely crossing over to the corporate world, leading to an even more fragmented wordpress user experience.
You actually are totally right, clients shouldn’t really mess with UI and I dont think that will change, at least not for my clients.
But – wouldnt it be nice if it was easier and more intuitive for clients to edit content? Right now it’s just too fragmented. I dont think Gberg is perfect but we do need change.
But yes probably not a big impact in the corporate world.
I don’t think this is really a preference thing, most peoples problems with Gutenberg is that the message is the same B.S. message squarespace, wix, and all the rest of these “web builder” services: Make it so easy that anybody can build your own website. As far as most web developers are concerned this premise is so flawed as to totally laughable. The last thing the world needs is more page builder garbage. It will just lead to more poorly designed and poorly thought out websites. Clients suck at art, clients suck at design. That is why there are professional designers. Clients suck at UX. That is why there are UX professionals. Clients suck at developing websites. That is why there are professional developers. It’s one thing if Gutenberg is just used for a personal blog. But for a fully featured and developed corporate website its total garbage and pretty much all professional developers recognize that. THAT is why Gutenberg pisses so many people off. I guarantee you Gutenberg will not be widely crossing over to the corporate world, leading to an even more fragmented wordpress user experience.
You actually are totally right, clients shouldn’t really mess with UI and I dont think that will change, at least not for my clients.
But – wouldnt it be nice if it was easier and more intuitive for clients to edit content? Right now it’s just too fragmented. I dont think Gberg is perfect but we do need change.
But yes probably not a big impact in the corporate world.