A useless infinite scroll experiment(futile.ch)
74 points bydolin_ch3 days ago |21 comments
thomasfl1 hour ago
Just likte this demonstrates the stupidity of infinite scrolling, here is a site that demonstrates how easy it is to manipulate everybody to click click on things that gives us rewards:

https://neal.fun/stimulation-clicker/

dolin_ch55 minutes ago
Yes, I knew about this site ;)
nayuki4 hours ago
Windows autoscroll makes this game too easy. This feature was introduced a very long time ago, possibly with the IntelliMouse in the year 1996. Press on the scroll wheel (considered to be middle-click) and release the button, which overlays a little scroll guide circle. Move the mouse down to begin scrolling, and don't touch anything else. Click any mouse button to stop scrolling. (Another variant is to click and hold the wheel button, move the mouse down to scroll, and release the button to stop.)
EsportToys48 minutes ago
You may also be interested in my little modification of middle-scroll behaviour:

https://github.com/esporttoys/librescroll

sebastiennight2 hours ago
"Windows" autoscroll? My Mac has had the same behavior for as long as I can remember. Did they copy it?
oneeyedpigeon1 hour ago
How do you do this on macOS? I can't find anything under Settings > Mouse and I can't find a way of fluking it with various random gestures. I don't think I'll ever need it, I'm just curious!
dolin_ch3 hours ago
Yes, yes, I know, but the site is designed for mobile devices and for the real pleasure of scrolling, not just cheating. Just for fun ;)
CodesInChaos58 minutes ago
I'm confused by that thing. After scrolling for a couple of minutes, the animation seems to play on on its own for longer than I cared to wait. Isn't the animation supposed to be coupled to the scrolling?

And it doesn't really feel like scrolling either, since apart from the tiny depth bar on the left, no content scrolls by.

dolin_ch3 minutes ago
That's a fair point.

The punchlines are there mostly to make the empty scroll a bit more entertaining while you go down. But you're right that nothing really scrolls by in the traditional sense.

The idea is more about measuring how far your thumb travels than about browsing actual content.

voidUpdate1 hour ago
Might want an epilepsy flashing warning? for things like 666m and 1000m
dolin_ch57 minutes ago
Yes, you're right, I hadn't thought of that! Thank you for your constructive feedback.
faeyanpiraat1 hour ago
How to make it obvious you are from the UK, without mentioning you are from the UK. :D
voidUpdate1 hour ago
Is finding bright flashing fullscreen images annoying, and knowing it can cause medical issues for some people a uniquely british thing?
sebastiennight5 hours ago
Nice. I will now start using it when I feel a compulsive need to escape boredom during unfocused Zoom calls.

A few remarks:

- some sentences (many) seem to be cut off on desktop. I only see, eg. "content to keep the site from going viral" or "around here. We're not that ambitious".

- It's interesting that for users who have their device set to the superior scrolling direction ("reverse" scrolling, drag your fingers up to see what's at the top), your website behaves correctly but gives the opposite feeling. It's the first webpage where I've ever felt like "normal" scrolling (drag your fingers down to pull the page down) would be more natural.

- scrolling for long enough to get the first sound effect was quite a surprise

dolin_ch4 hours ago
Looking forward to your next Zoom meeting ;) That's strange about the cut-off sentences. What device are you using? I'll check it out, because I'm not having any problems on my end. Thank you so much for the great feedback, I really appreciate it!
hackerbeat1 hour ago
Nice! Reminds me of https://gagzap.com/
dolin_ch1 hour ago
I didn't know about that, thank you for the link.
adhoc_slime1 hour ago
crazy level of eye damage from the flashing effects. Turns something cute into something painful, so thanks for that.
dolin_ch54 minutes ago
I'm sorry, I hadn't thought of that! I'll take care of it!
totetsu5 hours ago
iOS health app could track this like steps. Total distance scrolled on your phone.
mrunseen5 hours ago
There was a iOS jailbreak tweak called Treadmill where it exactly done that. Pretty cool to me.

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/01/31/ryan-petrich-treadm...

dolin_ch4 hours ago
I didn't know that, thank you for the information and for your feedback
2Gkashmiri1 hour ago
Never owned an iPhone after 3GS because it became prohibitively expensive.

I have so many memories of cydia and there was this itools, some Chinese software that let me do more than iTunes.

Those were the days. I was rocking an html lockdscreen which was pretty cool.

When I got hands on original iPhone back in 2008, I remember my PC having less ram, less storage as that was a handmedown. It was freaking cool to have more compute in hand than what my xp machine did.

dolin_ch59 minutes ago
The good old days! Still on iPhone, but no more jailbreaking... too restrictive.
dolin_ch4 hours ago
Ahahah, that would be an excellent idea
leni5363 hours ago
Fun. I took out a tape measure to see how accurate it was. It wasn't very accurate. Also the scale on the left scrolls faster than my finger. Fennec(Firefox) on Android.
kevincox1 hour ago
The scale on the left was also very stuttery. Even when scrolling slow I could see the distance at the bottom updating at a very high frame rate and the scale on the left only moved occasionally which felt awful.
dolin_ch1 minute ago
I'll make a note of that and try to fix it, thank you.
dolin_ch2 hours ago
Right. Thank you very much for the feedback, I'll check it out !
PetitPrince2 hours ago
You should add a punchline about training for a thumb war (with a rocky reference ?).
dolin_ch2 hours ago
Great idea! I'll do that ! ;) Thanks !
dolin_ch3 days ago
Small experiment about infinite scrolling.

It converts scrolling into a measurable distance.

The more you scroll, the more the site reminds you you're still scrolling.

dolin_ch2 hours ago
On smartphones for real-world use ! ;)
rkomorn5 hours ago
"This scroll will get you nowhere."

I disagree. It has gotten me to being entertained.

dolin_ch4 hours ago
Ohhhh, thank you, I'm delighted
adzm4 hours ago
Won't this lose precision as you near the limits of a double? Or is it using BigInt behind the scenes?
dolin_ch3 hours ago
It's just standard JS numbers (IEEE-754 doubles), not BigInt.

The distance is accumulated in millimeters, so even if someone somehow scrolled hundreds of kilometers we'd still be far below the 2^53 integer precision limit.

So precision loss shouldn't realistically happen.

orthoxerox4 hours ago
Finally, a website that makes me feel like activating a superpower when I unlock the scroll wheel on my mouse.
dolin_ch4 hours ago
Ahahah. But it's more for your thumb, on mobile.
fredelt3 hours ago
What a great time, accompanied by smiles at the punchlines. I love the idea. Thank you for the time wasted.
dolin_ch3 hours ago
Really happy to read this comment, thank you so much !
fuidani5 hours ago
you made my day!
dolin_ch4 hours ago
Ahahah, really happy
leosanchez6 hours ago
Did I hear a moan after pausing around 200m ?
dolin_ch4 hours ago
You're not mad
gus_massa2 days ago
Can you add an option to switch to feet? :)
sebastiennight2 hours ago
Most people scroll using their thumbs. Your touchscreen must be quite large
dolin_ch2 hours ago
As large as possible ;)
nixass5 hours ago
Why not Fahrenheits while at it?
dolin_ch13 hours ago
But there is no end