Why is that web browsers, after 30 years, still cannot...

Why is that web browsers, after 30 years, still cannot properly format HTML pages for printing?

Like 23 January at 23:37 | Open on social.coop

9 comments

@J12t Because HTML, and more to the point, CSS is woefully unfit for purpose and utterly sucks.

23 January at 23:44 | Open on mastodon.green

@J12t Because html by design is layout agnostic? Because open source html is bastardized by for-profit vendors? ...?

24 January at 0:46 | Open on mastodon.social

Tariq

I don't understand it.

If it can be rendered on a digital display, then surely it can be rendered on paper?

A browser window can be resized to the same aspect ratio and scale as paper.

So what's the difference?

24 January at 4:26 | Open on mastodon.social

@rzeta0 pagination. But if that were all that’s broken, I wouldn’t be complaining…

24 January at 4:30 | Open on social.coop

Tariq

@J12t I could cope with no pagination as long as the content did appear on paper.

I get content chopped off when I print.

(Unless I export to pdf then print that - what a mess )

24 January at 4:35 | Open on mastodon.social

Thomas

@J12t Reader Mode every time - then print like a pro 😎

24 January at 7:31 | Open on mastodon.social

Sekhen

@J12t
My guess is the HTML standard and browser development speed are orders of magnitude faster than printers and printer drivers.

24 January at 9:57 | Open on mammut.sekhen.com

guisso

@J12t because there is no need to print anything

24 January at 11:48 | Open on bolha.us

@J12t knowing printers for the last 40 years, I assume it's because of the printers! 😂.

You know... Rage Against the Machine never told us "the Machine" is a printer... But we all know It is.

24 January at 16:41 | Open on vis.social