> There are only 2 groups who don't have JavaScript support
That's not entirely accurate. While those are two of the most common cases there are plenty of other contributing factors (http://developer.yahoo.com/blogs/ydn/posts/2010/10/how-many-..., this comment makes a good case). Errors stemming from network congestion, developer error and even CDNs failing - only a few weeks ago the google hosted version of jquery (iirc) failed leaving lots of sites with broken JS and an effective no-JS experience.
Personally I think building a site that works well without JS and then progressively enhancing it is the Right Thing to do. It means you're building a robust site for the real web and the multitude of clients and conditions that comes with. In your example I wouldn't want JS failing to prevent a checkout process, it should be robust and continue working, albeit less smoothly.
> honestly don't see the point of degrading the experience for everyone based one these two demographics
IMO If you're doing progressive enhancement well then this is not the case. I don't think the iOS/Android comparison is accurate either. The web is much more varied, the differences less well defined.
You're right, it does depend on what you're building and for who. But I don't think the general case is as binary as you've make out.
That's not entirely accurate. While those are two of the most common cases there are plenty of other contributing factors (http://developer.yahoo.com/blogs/ydn/posts/2010/10/how-many-..., this comment makes a good case). Errors stemming from network congestion, developer error and even CDNs failing - only a few weeks ago the google hosted version of jquery (iirc) failed leaving lots of sites with broken JS and an effective no-JS experience.
Personally I think building a site that works well without JS and then progressively enhancing it is the Right Thing to do. It means you're building a robust site for the real web and the multitude of clients and conditions that comes with. In your example I wouldn't want JS failing to prevent a checkout process, it should be robust and continue working, albeit less smoothly.
> honestly don't see the point of degrading the experience for everyone based one these two demographics
IMO If you're doing progressive enhancement well then this is not the case. I don't think the iOS/Android comparison is accurate either. The web is much more varied, the differences less well defined.
You're right, it does depend on what you're building and for who. But I don't think the general case is as binary as you've make out.