Beyond progressive enhancement: building a seamless web

The web keeps on advancing and improving; things like responsive web design and CSS3 animation have quickly moved from being exciting new buzzwords to part and parcel of the way we experience the internet. But is the web seamless?

It's getting there, but as you'll be reminded every time you're somewhere with bad 3G and no open wifi, there's still a way to go and work to do before we have a truly seamless web. In this 2013 Generate London talk, Stephanie Rieger from Yiibu addresses the challenges of building a seamless web.

Stephanie will be speaking at Generate San Francisco on 15 July about the Internet of Things, and how it's about more than just cloud services, fitness trackers and smart light bulbs. In The Internet of Things is for People, she'll be shifting the conversation way from things and back to people in the hope that she can arm you with tools to better understand, and find your place, within this complex but fascinating landscape.

Generate San Francisco - Stephanie Rieger

Don't miss Stephanie's talk at Generate San Francisco on 15 July

And of course, for the Internet of Things to do its job properly, we need a seamless web, which brings us back to this video. Google's Eric Schmidt (amongst others) predicts a time where technology is just seamless, where the web is constantly there in the background, like electricity, and we don't even have to think about accessing it; how do we get to that point, though?

Stephanie's presentation challenges us to think about the role of the web going forward, asking what steps we need to take to build a world where web interactions are truly seamless, considering what a seamless web would even look like, and ensuring that the web remains strong amidst all the other new technologies that are on the way.

If the web is your business and you want to maintain your competitive edge in the not-too-distant future, this is essential viewing. And if you like what you see here and want more great advice from some of the top names in web design and frontend development, get yourself to an upcoming Generate event.

As well as Generate San Francisco, there are conferences coming up soon in Sydney and London, with speakers including Jeff Veen, Mike Kus, John Allsop and Val Head, covering a huge range of subjects that will touch on every web pro's day-to-day work as well as providing plenty of insight on other issues and practical workshops that will arm you for the challenges to come as the web continues to evolve.

Find out more at the Generate site.

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Jim McCauley

Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.