HotWired stands as a shining example of how to use frames if you want to create some sort of multimedia nightmare for all to enjoy. I can only speculate that they made their site so annoying so you'll run right out and buy their magazine, because trying to read it on-line is like trying to play golf in a monsoon with a monkey jumping up and down on your head. I wouldn't be surprised if they add some marching band tunes in the near future. I don't crash at HotWired because I stopped visiting.

Suck has decided that frames are a spiffy place to plaster up a few advertisements. Notice how the frame full of ads loads first, so before you can click away on one of the links, you have to load up about 16KB worth of trash. This is probably one of the most pointless ways you can use frames. I don't bother reading Suck anymore, it blows.

Once an oasis for cutting edge humor, The Onion has sold out and added some banner-ad-holding frames to their site also. It's kind of sad that they would make their site popular without them, then when some advertiser offers them loads-o-money, they'd be so willing to jam frames up to comply. I still read The Onion cause it's funny, but I read it from here.

Frames The Destroyer: A Website using frames can alter the intended design of another. For example, once you're at TotalNews, leaving can be very difficult indeed. Their frames go with you. To see this abomination in action, go to TotalNews, choose the "Entertainment" link, then choose the "USA Today Life" link. This brings new meaning to the word "rude" TotalNews wants you to hang around their website so badly that they're willing to ruin the intended presentation of the hundreds of sites they link to. This is an all too common technique used at many a framed website.

The Real World: Beyond the fact that frames crash browsers and prevent you from bookmarking individual pages, frames are simply a bad idea. While browsing through this week's Time magazine I tried to imagine how many copies they would sell if they boxed each article off with a frame type line. No printed literature would dare to set up their pages in frame type format, it's totally unthinkable. How about some frames in our favorite TV show? Sure, you could watch Seinfeld in one frame and enjoy a few Pepsi commercials in another.

The Future: If the creation of new frame sites continues at the breakneck speed it is currently going and we as a group do nothing, we can all look forward to the frightening possibility of off-the-shelf software being created in some sort of frame type format. Are you prepared for the frames version of say, Windows 98? (Heck, I wasn't even ready for just plain old Windows 95). If Microsoft has it's way (and they always do) you will one day find your computer desktop in a browser style format. When that happens it's inevitable that some genius at your favorite software company will decide frames are a good way to navigate in their software.

Conclusion: Frames are simply a bad way to design a webpage. They take longer to download, they almost always make a site more confusing, they are especially annoying on small monitors because they waste valuable browser space, printing a webpage is difficult, they are prone to crash browsers and my sister was killed by frames. If you find that you are still unsure whether or not to use frames at your site, I recommend reading all the comments voiced by the I Hate Frames Club Members. If you already hate frames, why not Join the Club. To become an official member simply add some comments to the list.