The Misery of Modern Cloud GUIs

As a datacenter engineer working with various cloud platforms, I've witnessed the steady decline in usability of cloud management interfaces. What used to be straightforward configuration pages have evolved into bloated, JavaScript-heavy monstrosities that prioritize flashy animations over functionality.

The Complexity Trap

Let's examine a typical modern cloud dashboard: 

Average Cloud Dashboard:
- 5MB+ of JavaScript
- 50+ HTTP requests just to load
- 3-4 different loading animations
- Infinite scroll everywhere
- React/Angular/Vue rendering hell
Real functionality: Show VM status and start/stop button

The simple task of checking if a VM is running now requires your browser to execute more code than the actual hypervisor managing the VM. The irony would be amusing if it wasn't so frustrating.

When Simple Tasks Become Painful

Consider these common scenarios in modern cloud GUIs:

1. Viewing Resource Status:
- Click "Resources" (wait for animation)
- Wait for dynamic content load
- Watch skeleton screens pulse
- Finally see data that could fit in 2KB of HTML

2. Finding Resource ID:
- Navigate through 3 levels of nested menus
- Wait for each level to load separately
- Finally find ID in tiny grey text
- Try to copy but get tooltip instead

3. Basic Configuration Change:
- Click through wizard interface
- Watch validation spinner on each field
- Get blocked by randomly appearing tooltips
- Lose changes because session timed out

Why CLI is Superior

Compare the GUI experience with CLI equivalents: 

# GUI: 5 clicks, 3 loading screens, 2 timeouts
azure vm list --query "[].{Name:name,Status:powerState}"

# GUI: Navigate 4 menus, wait for React
aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[].Instances[].InstanceId'

# GUI: Click through 3 pages of wizards
gcloud compute instances stop my-instance

The CLI approach is:

The Way Forward

Cloud providers should offer:

1. HTML-first interfaces: - Basic HTML for core functionality - JavaScript only for enhanced features - No required client-side rendering

2. Performance-focused design: - Initial page load under 100KB - No animation requirements - Server-side rendering - Static HTML where possible

3. CLI-first development: - Build CLI interface first - Web UI as wrapper around CLI - Document all API endpoints - Support automation first

Conclusion

If your cloud management interface requires more computing power than the services it's managing, something has gone horribly wrong. We need to return to the basics: fast, efficient interfaces that prioritize functionality over flashiness.

Until then, I'll stick to my CLI tools and curl commands. At least they won't show me a loading animation when I'm trying to read a static configuration file.