Monkey Do article on using picturefill on the AEA page

[eeeps]

http://monkeydo.biz/blog/an-event-apart-and-the-picture-element

Awesome things about this article (these things are very awesome):

1. Detailed notes on implementing picture on a real-world, high-profile site.
2. Shows how to use the new markup in concert with a CMS & asset management system (Expression Engine)

Weird things about this article (nit-pickin’):

1. They chose to use picture over a background-image because they needed more layout control, not because the image was clearly content or presentational (in their defense, the image in question sits squarely on that fence)
2. They claim picture gave them more control, but I don't see how. Given the new crops they're rendering on the back end, wouldn't the same art direction be possible entirely in CSS? They're not using sizes, just media queries and 1x/2x.
3. The quality-zero “compressive images” 2x images aren't actually bigger, byte-wise, than the default 1x images... are the 1x images worth keeping around? Arguments can be made that, yes, they are, due to RAM considerations (compressive images need to be decompressed, and take up more device RAM post-decompression), but they don't make them.

[Wilto]

On the “compressive images” point, I can definitely see doing things this way for the sake of memory issues—it can be pretty disastrous on a mobile browser.