Indeed it is absurd that we have known how to refresh part of a page for a decade now and yet half the internet still refreshes the whole page. I'd say this has to do with developers still relying upon server side frameworks they learned years ago.
This has nothing to do with looking cool. Your server generated dynamic full page can look great. Didn't you see Steve Jobs's Dodge site? This has to do with user experience, in particular performance. The problem with Steve's site is that a slight change in search criteria resulted in a two second full page refresh. It made me want to shop for a Ford.
Sure their are cases where full page refresh is fine. Shopping isn't one of them. Reading a news story that spans 10 pages isn't one of them. Most of what I use the internet for isn't one of them.
And then there are web applications. Without partial page refresh these feel like shopping for a Dodge in 1996.
This has nothing to do with looking cool. Your server generated dynamic full page can look great. Didn't you see Steve Jobs's Dodge site? This has to do with user experience, in particular performance. The problem with Steve's site is that a slight change in search criteria resulted in a two second full page refresh. It made me want to shop for a Ford.
Sure their are cases where full page refresh is fine. Shopping isn't one of them. Reading a news story that spans 10 pages isn't one of them. Most of what I use the internet for isn't one of them.
And then there are web applications. Without partial page refresh these feel like shopping for a Dodge in 1996.