We keep reinventing CSS, but styling was never the problem

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Web as Application Platform vs Document Platform

  • Several comments argue the real problem isn’t CSS but using a document-centric platform (HTML + CSS + DOM) for full-blown applications.
  • Others note we already had “web as app engine” eras (telnet, Java applets, Flash, ActiveX), which failed for security, portability, and mobile reasons.
  • Some suggest WASM + <canvas> could revive that idea by rendering custom UIs while delegating accessibility and text selection to overlays or AI.

Accessibility, SEO, and AI Overlays

  • A proposed future: apps render arbitrary pixels while a separate accessibility system (possibly AI-powered) describes content and text.
  • Pushback: SEO and ad-funded content still demand indexable HTML; only walled-garden products (e.g., design tools) can ignore this.
  • Counter‑argument: SEO is weakening under AI search, so developers may eventually prioritize “web as app engine” over semantic HTML.

How “Interactive” Are Most Web Apps?

  • Strong disagreement over the article’s framing of “highly interactive, state-driven apps.”
  • One side says most business apps are glorified CRUD forms that could be built with basic HTML, minimal JS, and server-side rendering.
  • The other side points to Gmail, Jira, maps, editors, visual planners, and complex file viewers as legitimately stateful, component-heavy apps where SPA techniques and perceived performance matter.

CSS: Power, Misuse, and Reinvention

  • Many argue modern CSS is “fine” and very capable (grid, variables, nesting, cascade layers, scoped styles), and the real issue is lack of knowledge and conflicting desires (isolation vs global theming).
  • Others describe CSS as runaway complexity that makes new browser engines prohibitively expensive, contributing to a de facto Chromium monoculture.

Tailwind, Utility Classes, and Scoped Styles

  • Utility-first CSS fans like eliminating context switches and relying on a shared vocabulary of small classes.
  • Critics call Tailwind “write-only,” bloated, and hard to maintain, especially when taking over existing projects.
  • A middle-ground pattern is popular: use utilities for layout, scoped styles per component, and a small set of global element styles, aided by framework-level scoped CSS (<style scoped>, @scope, etc.).

Theming, Native Controls, and Recreating the Browser

  • Nostalgia for OS-wide theming (Winamp skins, old Windows/macOS themes) surfaces as an example of unified, reusable components—contrasted with today’s custom web UIs.
  • Some argue we keep rebuilding browser and OS behaviors inside web apps (routing, history, menus, forms) instead of embracing “documents with forms” and standard widgets.

Meta: Article Quality and LLM Speculation

  • A few readers suspect the article itself is LLM-generated based on style, which reduces their willingness to treat its conclusions as authoritative.