It wasn't that the web pioneers did not consider layout important. They came from a background where layout was "external". The important thing was the content. Style was something that was added and/or defined by someone else. Such as with LaTeX.
The first web pages I wrote had no style information at all. And the first browsers I used allowed (and expected) you to define the default colours and fonts for pages to your own taste.
I am still a fan of minimal styling. It would save me a lot of time to write "style = article" on my pages and be done with it... but most people want their pages to look unique and exactly as they think it should.
The first web pages I wrote had no style information at all. And the first browsers I used allowed (and expected) you to define the default colours and fonts for pages to your own taste.
I am still a fan of minimal styling. It would save me a lot of time to write "style = article" on my pages and be done with it... but most people want their pages to look unique and exactly as they think it should.