GIFs are so stupidly easy to use and distribute that I sometimes can’t wrap my head around how convenient the format is.<p>A while ago, I tried to be a good nerd and convert some GIFs to HTML5 video, and I crashed and burned pretty hard: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ndarville.com&#x2F;asides&#x2F;webvideo&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ndarville.com&#x2F;asides&#x2F;webvideo&#x2F;</a>.<p>I gained a new appreciation of GIFs that day.<p>That said, it would be great if we got a compromise where browsers can load only the first frame of the GIF and play the reminder on click or touch to save all the loading and data—on both sides, really.