You could mail me or go to my home page.
So why should I be concerned with being surfable by any browser? Let's consider the reasons.
Why did I put up this page? Fundamentally, I want people to read what I write, and find out what I think. I don't think anybody puts up a page and doesn't want some sort of attention. The goal of web site design is to get people to come to it, and to stay there and read it.
What browser are you using? The best estimates I've seen say that you're probably reading this through Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, although not necessarily the latest version. There's at least a two-to-one chance that you've got it set up so that images automatically load. At least, this is the case as I write this (October 1997). When you actually read this, WebTV or text-only browsers on palmtops might be popular. I don't know, and the best thing I can do is make sure it doesn't matter.
Why are you using it? On the other hand, you might be using Lynx or Cyberdog or a WebTV or something. I don't care to leave some of you out because you're not using the latest, hottest, buggiest thing. There's a good chance you will let me use Javascript or Java; on the other hand, these things are security holes, and don't run on everything. At any rate, if you aren't running the latest version of IE or NN with most of the security features disabled, it's by choice. It seems that half the sites on the net make it convenient to download these browsers, and they come with the safeties off. I want to respect your choices. After all, you're one action away from leaving here any time you want.
Should I care about the 5% not using IE/NN? Well, why not? You guys aren't out there in great numbers, but I don't want to exclude you unnecessarily. (For one thing, anybody not using NN/IE is a bit out of the ordinary, and likely to be interesting.)
Why use neat proprietary features? Besides, what am I going to put on here that will make it necessary to use fancy and unportable features? I don't have to attract your attention. You're reading this, after all. I have to hold your attention and avoid annoying you. I can easily make you go elsewhere by making you wait for a 400K .gif file or by making it difficult for you do navigate this site. That's not my objective.
What "neat things" are good for the site? If I make anything blink or flash or change, that's going to draw your attention. For that reason, it had better be the reason for having the page. I'm not into that. I'm into words and ideas, and what I'd like you to do is to read my words, reflect on my ideas, and let me know what you think. If I put some silly decoration that pulls your eye from the words, and distracts you when you're thinking, I've sabotaged my own site. I could play sounds at you, but the odds are that you have definite ideas about what sounds you want to hear. If you're in a private place, you probably have whatever background music or silence you want; in a public place, you certainly don't want to give control of your computer speaker to me. I could use a fancy background, but that makes text harder to read.
What about frames? The other widely-used nonportable feature is frames. I don't like them, and even if I did I'd be reluctant to use them. I want to put my thoughts on your entire browser window, rather than fencing them up. (If I do use them, it will be for a purpose, and I promise there will be a way to avoid dealing with them. I'll also adhere strictly to some draft or another of HTML 4.0.)
What about tables? Tables are useful for setting up web page formats. Most of the nicely-arrayed pages you've seen use tables for the setup. The downside is that a table has to be downloaded completely before any part shows up in a browser screen, and that Netscape table layout is slow and unresponsive, at least on the Macintosh. If you're running a Mac with Netscape, you've seen those long pauses when the computer goes completely unresponsive and you can't even get the "stop" button to work. That's the part that renders tables, and is why I'm not using them.
Java and/or Javascript? I will use Javascript and Java as needed. The odds are that I can use them with some effect on your screen, but why take the chance? I have plans for this site that involve Java applets, simply because I can't do what I want to do without them. I have other plans that don't need applets, and on those pages there's no need to use them.
Speed is life. Above all, I want to avoid presenting you with a lot of boring words. The words I refer to, of course, are much like "4% of 1159K". The net is slow enough right now, and I think it's going to get slower before it gets faster. I want my pages to be nice and trim so that they get through the net in one small piece each.
Thank you for coming to my web site. I hope you like it here.