Re: Doesn't paint JavaScript in the best light...
When has that not been the case for user interfaces? Even in highly-constricted environments (GUIs built from simple, non-customizable widget sets, or CUIs in predefined menu environments such as ISPF, for example), user interfaces inevitably realize a user interaction model and enforce certain user experiences. Rarely do we see evidence that real UI designers - people with actual understanding of UI theory, doing actual UI research - were involved.
How many people here have ever worked on a product where someone did a user ethnography study, or contextual inquiry, or any other methodologically-sound research into usability?