It seems more and more that usability and cross-platform performance has been slowly but surely falling by the wayside.
There was a phase when it was demanded of web developers that a website work on everything from a Mobile Phone, PDA and disabled access units through to a computer with a huge screen and all the bells and whistles ... AND look good doing it!
More and more high-end websites (eg. Kodak) are dropping this and instead simply demanding updates from users. It is said that Microsoft has over 80% of the browser market with IE. Why is it then that Macintosh users are often cut out in browser detectors that only recognise versions of IE that only exist on PCs?
Microsoft has decided it 'unnecessary' to develop newer versions of it's browser on the Mac platform. You would assume that this will change with the Intel switch but they do drag their feet quite consistently.
The W3C is integrating industry standards but even then, consideration must be made to a market that doesn't necessarily update their soft- and hardware on a weekly basis.
There is an envelope that has been well and truly broken technologically. It's simple to recognise that most people don't need a 3Ghz or G5 super computer just to type emails. This will become more and more of a problem when you take into consideration bandwidth, localised software, hardware and online applications (ie. banking).
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