Example.com Just Launched the Biggest Redesign in Decades

Commenters focused on the recent example.com redesign and its practical effects. selcuka worried about breaking automated tests and invoked Hyrum’s Law; several others echoed that example.com has become an unofficial service people rely on, with reincoder and kijeda describing how organizations maintain “cornerstone” internet resources beyond their intended documentary role. Lightbody asked who actually controls the content, zahrevsky and zamadatix pointed to deliberate hosting choices (and bandwidth concerns) to prevent abuse, and jgx0 warned about sensitive data being sent by misconfigured systems. Practical uses came up too: chews and ButlerianJihad said they use example.com for captive portal and http test cases, while gumby, Gualdrapo and Cidan argued the page should stay static and avoid heavy JavaScript.

Opinion split over technical choices and accuracy. Some readers (jamdav16, ajcp) noted the redesign removed an animation and that s.js dynamically inserts an SVG and localized paragraphs - ajcp posted the insertion code - while others (afavour) claimed the article misreported behavior when JS was disabled. Localization choices drew debate: sajithdilshan suggested IP-based messaging, erhuve pointed out use of UN languages, and commenters like Waterluvian and gunalx questioned assumptions about language targeting. A few replies were tongue-in-cheek (failbuffer, arcanemachiner), but most centered on whether the site should prioritize simplicity and stability over visual polish.