Dumb Design Rules Should Be Broken

Wired laments that Google's New Homepage Breaks Basic Web Design Rule since it requires JavaScript to access some of Google's featured searches and related sites.

The Image, Video, News, and Maps search links on the Google Classic Home Page all require JavaScript for them to be displayed. The Gmail link and more menu do as well.

However, how many sites work without JavaScript nowadays? If you spent any time surfing the web without it enabled you'd find few sites that work properly or display as intended. Designing without JavaScript is too limiting. Without JavaScript web pages are as interactive as a newspaper.

Any "design rule" that states JavaScript shouldn't or can't be used is out dated. Yes, it should degrade gracefully, but that's not always possible and to rule out its use in those circumstances only limits creativity and innovation.