Typeface designers and font fanciers have new reason for optimism though. The past year has seen a surge of Web-browser innovation. Now, most major browsers—including the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera—recognize a CSS rule known as @font-face. What that means, in brief, is that Web developers can now easily embed downloadable fonts in their pages.

While this is definitely exciting, and definitely revolutionary in the field of web design, it’s also a little terrifying. Consider the number of people who have basic CSS and HTML knowledge (most likely learned from customizing their MySpace pages). And then think about what those MySpace pages look like. Now there is the possibility of having any font you like embedded in your page, or as many different decorative fonts you can get your hands on. Just imagine what the web would look like if all those people with Angelfire sites had access to hundreds of fonts… although, on the other hand, we might have been subjected to considerably less Comic Sans.