Gerry McGovern on Website Complexity

Here’s a link to an … odd article, by Gerry McGovern.

Static or Database: Our Love of Complexity

It’s a polemic against dynamic websites (a category into which CMS would fall):

So, if static websites are better in many situations, why aren’t they used more? Why has the migration been in the opposite direction? Because of progress. Because a database is more “advanced” than a static website, so a database must by definition be better, mustn’t it? We become willing zombies in the march of progress […]

Gerry is a legend in the digital space. I’ve heard him speak several times and enjoyed him, but I feel like this article is wildly misplaced, especially since the industry seems to somehow be edging back into static and cached websites. Additionally, I don’t think anyone embraces complexity purely for the thrill of it. Some problems are just, well, complex.

When this published, it was passed around on the backchannels with all sorts of commentary. I’ll let you be the judge on this one.

Remember, perspective is good.