Is HTML an Unnecessary Hassel?

I was already nervous when I was asked by my professor to set up my USC web space and create it using some sort of code--which I had no idea how to do. On top of me not being the most technologically advanced person I had missed the previous class, where I could've stayed extra time to complete it, and had guidance and moral support. I had a good reason to miss the class though, instead of my head exploding with html code, I was witnessing history at President Obama's Inauguration, totally worth it. But when I came back to the reality that was school I had no idea what I was doing.

My First Problem

I knew it was going to be difficult when I couldn't even activate my USC web account on my Mac. I opened up the terminal window and followed the USC directions but it wouldn't let me type in my login. After trying this about twenty times, I decided to ask someone for help. A friend told me to try it on the PCs in the Annenberg digital lab. I followed the web directions for a PC and my account was set up in 5 minutes.

Getting the Hang of It

Once I got to the building of my web space, things got more difficult. There was more to do. I had to use fetch to put my picture up. I had to use textedit to change the name of the website, and type in different color codes for different colors to appear. While I had no problems following directions, the whole thing just seemed very tedious to me. If I messed up one number or put a space when I didn't mean to it would mess up the way it looked when I went to the actual website. Overall, it took me about 3 hours to come up with this:

worth it... I'm not sure.

Blogging Service vs. HTML

Obviously, using a blogging service is a lot easier than using html. It is all set up for you already. When you use a blogging service you just input your text or your pictures to the application, no textedit or fetch involved. I'm sure that it is nice to understand html cause I still am not sure that I get the hang of it, but I really don't see the point in knowing it. Now, html seems almost prehistoric with programs such as dreamweaver and iweb that allow you to make a website with a few touches of a button. I understand that USC wanted us to learn exactly how images and text are being put on the web. Its a good foundation, but I don't think its necessary for an introduction to online media class.