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Dan Bricklin: Democratizing the Web
securitas writes "This NY Times story featuring Dan Bricklin discusses the social impact of the Web on small businesses (Mom and Pop shops) and how the Web is leaving some behind. Bricklin wants to change that and make creating Web sites as easy (*cough*) as using a PC."
The small shops are usually the places the high school and college students get their first HTML gigs in. Granted, the sites come out looking less-than-beautiful, but there's no reason to get left entirely behind. With the advent of PayPal just about anyone can set up shop online with minimal barrier to entry.
*shrug*
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
I hear you. But remember that "we all" is about .01% of the whopping 6% of the world's population that even has access to the internet.
That is like saying that people who are really great at math and numbers make more money as accountants so we need to make sure that math is easy to do, or that being an accountant is easy. There are many resources out there to become a great accountant from books to classes, and there are many great resources out there to be a good web designer, again, from books to classes to just plain practice. Sure you could give them a nice WYSIWYG editor or something (and Microsoft has done some of this...) but it has been shown that these tools do not actually make great code (leaving in bad code, or simply using tags that arent generally accepted by all browsers, W3C compliant). As with anything, if you want to be able to make a living with it, you will need to actually LEARN something to do it well.
/. posts articles on sites that impose logins etc.
Sorry if this is not exaclty what the article says...but thats how it is when
I disagree. What makes the web so good is that people can create websites about anything, with minimal skill. This is how some people get started on greater things, and makes it a universal resource.
In addition to this, some people out there may think that your cute pet is really interesting.
There may be a time when you need some information on say, goldfish juggling, and the guy who knows loads about this was only able to put up his site because of these easy to use tools. Could be great content behind that naf design, but you'd never know if he couldn't publish it.
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
This article talks about *LISTENING* to small business about thier tech needs, not just shoving as much high tech gear into thier arms with very little idea how to use it... This is the right way to target small business I think..
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I think the #1 threat to small business in general is complacency. There are lots of small businesses that I see go under. Mostly from the introduction of large chain stores, but I'm sure some took a dent from the Internet, but almost all of them did not do anything visibly different from the previous year when the new competition was nonexistent.
I propose that installing central heating be as easy as turning my heating on, making my own car be as easy as driving.
Poor analogies perhaps...anyway...my main point is this, you *can* do it yourself, but it'll never be as good as having a specialist do it.
I know I'd rather pay a plumber to install my heating than end up with a leaky botch job that I put in myself.
Frontpage, Geocities Page builder, etc etc why do you think those who refuse to try are left behind? because those that do try have a webpage (although most are crappy)
There is no excuse for any business to not have a web presence. Minimally, every business, no matter how small, should have appropriate contact information and business description.
As added features, they should also have free samples. And attractive customer representatives. Plus, snacks.
But at least a website.
Best Windows Freeware
Are you talking about the original slashcode?
http://www.majcher.com/nytview.html
You mean its not like that already? Okay, with C, java, python - yeah, I expect people not to know. But I learned HTML in half an hour. Non-geeks CAN learn HTML, and its not that hard. Hell, these are small business owners, so they've at least got enough intelligence to perform their own accounting, HTML should be a breeze. Buy a book that explains HTML and how to use FrontPage. The only thing left is an easier interface for setting up shops online (PayPal is pretty close). Or, just make an HTML exporter for MS Word that produces actual useable webpages instead of bizarre imbedded crap.
Yes but this guy is after making it more accessable to more people. There is much more work to do still, especially for much the world that cannot even afford food, let alone PCs but it is still a valid idea.
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
An add for Interland web hosting that includes some web page templates gets 2 pages in the NY times and Slashdot front page. What a waste.
here's a web page that's as easy to use as a PC.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Here's the no-need-to-register version of the article, thanks to Google:s sspecial/06LOHR.html?ex=1052884800&en=ea31bf9e5b8a 61be&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/06/business/busine
I made a PHP/MySQL library that prevents SQL injection & makes coding easier!
I would have to disagree slightly. In a mom+pop shop in the high street it is possible for them to see how customers shop and rearrange stock accordingly. Making web pages however is a not as easy. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes less than intuative. This is good example of how not to do things
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
It may be dificult to do it well but that is like everything - most people can do most things at a pretty basic level. Being good at something (or at least better than most) takes some effort.
Creating a website has always been easy. Although, creating a scalable ecommerce website with all the wiz bang features is not. I know of a software package called Weblisket created by AllBinary that will allow anyone to create an ecommerce site with seven easy steps. Although, if you don't like the visual styles it provides through the Weblisket Store Wizard you still need to know JSP, XSLT, and the client ML you wish to modify like DHTML or WML. Plus, whenever a new client ML is needed you must change the XSLT to include the new client agent. To sum things up if you need a professional website you will always need professionals.
>.01% of the whopping 6% of the world's
>population that even has access to the internet
Yeah, but....who cares about the rest? This site is about things which generally are related to the net. I think you want go to go `hand-made-bongos.com` or something.
I suppose it's possible that they got their hands on a prototype IBM PC in 1979.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
From the article: " In the focus group, a woman who manages a bridal shop said she was concerned because customers asked if she has a Web site, and she has to tell them no.
"You hear that all the time in these sessions -- the customers are asking," Mr. Bricklin said behind the mirror. "Having a Web site has become a generational necessity for a lot of businesses. You lose the people under 30 without it."
You sure do lose people without a Web site. For us it would be unthinkable. You begin with a Web site and then build your company! But the average small business owner who is computer-phobic or at least computer-neutral doesn't think that way. And furthermore, even if they do decide to get with the program and get a Web site, they probably don't know what to do about it.
I see some touting the ease of HTML -- "They can make their own site, it's easy!" Well, no, HTML may be easy for us, but for someone who views computers as mysterious boxes the very idea of general programming concepts is beyond them. "I never was very good at math," they mumble when you suggest they learn HTML.
So what is a win-win situation? Suggest to these small business owners that they get some college kid to create a web site for them, and if price is an objection they can pay little and advertise it as a way for the kid to build his online portfolio. Hey, building a web site may be child's play around here, but you gotta start somewhere in the job market, and plenty of PHBs will be impressed at your extensive portfolio.
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NYTimes username:freethepress123 password:freethepress12
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
It always amazes me that after studing for how ever many years, gathering 10 years of experience there are always those who feel technology should always be reduced to the lowest common denominator so every tom dick and harry can build enterprise solutions. I am in favour of technology being made accessible to the public but as with every task if you want it done properly there is some level of skill and expertise required. Is there really such an objection to a few IT professionals earning a crust by providing this service ??
Why dont people concentrate their simplifiction efforts on the ABC of the Legal matters, or DIY Surgery or a program that make Accountants redundant.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
I think it is more about someone who has recognized the money to made in the small businesses rather than someone trying to "Democratize the web". And there is nothing novel about it as the article wishes to potray. The big guns are fairly well established on the web after dot com boom (as in explosion) and the next obvious target for the web development industry would be small business. Has anyone seen Microsoft ads lately on TV ?
Interland intends to lower that barrier by offering Web site hosting to small businesses for as little as $23 a month.
Hey, there are many more good hosts which offer hosting for price far lesser than that.
Siggy Say, Siggy Do
Then maybe you can compete with stores on the web. I'd gladly shop at a mom and pop B&M if they had even slightly higher prices than stores on the web. But they never do.
The days of sitting back and watching profits pour in by setting your prices way to high and expecting people won't notice... Well, they're still here, but they belong to the megacorps, not the mom and pop shops.
as his car project.. but not quite as useful..
ChuckyG
Look at how many small businesses use what Kliban called "nephew art" for their physical signs.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Right click->properties... Add shweet web site.
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
China has been dictatorial wasteland for 40 years. Look at the internet in all dictator states. It is useless. It only gets you killed if you play with it or violate it.
If you build a free internet, it will follow that society will be free as well. There will be no stopping the information!
I suggest you read Slashdot
Many small businesses (not all, but many) survive because they are the only ones offering their specific product line in their area, so they can get away with higher prices, sloppy service, etc. What the Internet brings to them is the same thing large chain stores bring: competition with lower prices and better service.
I've bought stuff off of some really ugly web sites (can you say Yahoo shopping?) because they had the best prices and good shipping & service policies. Deploying a web store is easy enough already. There's no reason these mom and pop stores can't use the Internet as an opportunity to expand their operations. The keys to their success on the Internet will be the same as in any other large market: distinguishing yourself by offering a unique product, an standard product at the lowest price, or a standard product with the best support.
I thought viaweb (now Yahoo!Store) was successful because it automated as a server the mechanism for store creation in e-commerce. The management of the server is challenging, and is a customer interface, but not really the product or service actually delivered for most small businesses. I'm not sure that operating PCs got that much easier as Bricklin stated (with the notable exception of the windowing GUI stuff that became popular instead of command line interfaces). Administration, backup, maintenance, and all the other headaches are still about the same level of difficulty, just now more people do it themselves out of necessity. Security in particular is harder than ever, and where there is money, security is needed. Thus, I'm not sure pushing server management down to the end user is going to be a win.
According to some guy named Strongbad, there's a few simple rules to follow and you, too, can have a great web site.
Welcome To Your Doom!!
How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
I just started goldfish juggling! Can you give me the url to the guys site?!?
> Hey, there are many more good hosts which offer hosting for price far lesser (sic) than that.
Bandwidth gets to be a mofo. The cheaper hosts will eat your profits quickly if you use past their set bandwidth caps. And with customers demanding Amazon-scale pictures of everything, and 10,000 spiders sucking your servers dry every day, that bandwidth goes away fast before your first customer shows up.
My wife's webstore (home grown, and I'm not crass enough to plug it with a link here) has about 70,000 items, the catalog takes up about 150MB, and it eats about 12GB in transfer a month. When it exceeds 15, our host wants $5/GB! One month (I think due to their accounting error) it went to 30GB, so the extra 15*5 is more than 3X our $20/month hosting cost. They say I need a different plan -- but they don't offer one with significantly more bandwidth.
Design for Use, not Construction!
We're building the Open Source TownPortal application for just this.
The idea with TownPortal is that a local community (say, town or county) can easily build and maintain their web site.
In addition, the TownPortal will also enable local small businesses, clubs and schools to run their web sites with simple but efficient CMS tools.
By default the sites of these organizations are hosted under the main TownPortal site, but they can also be easily shown under their own domains with their own layout. In this case the operator of the portal would probably provide this as an additional service.
Midgard Project - Open Source CMS
From The article
What does a store gain from having a small web site? I think that a web site for a small shop will not do any good unless the costumers can find it in google when they are searching for the products directly, and the site has, at least, descriptions, photos and prices of the items to be sold.
Is a small web site that does not list inventories, and just offers a street address and an e-mail any good?
Do it right. There's nothing worse for a company than to have a website that only works correctly with one particular browser (it still happens today occasionally) or does not comply with the KISS principle (JAVA for a simple navigation bar).
The GUI editors like FrontPage and Dreamweaver are great for starting out, but when it comes to making good websites, they can only go so far and you need code. For example, for a boss who wanted 15 scanned documents posted on the web one on each page, I wrote a PHP script that used the querystring to load a particular image named by it's number, and autogenerated the PREV, 1-15,NEXT navigation on the bottom. Resulted in ONE page to handle it all. If I would have done the way she would have, then it would have taken more time and needed 15 redundant HTML pages.
I also think people become to dependent on the GUI editors. Instead of using one CSS file to handle formatting of content, people depend on DreamWeaver to replicate changes. May not sound significant, but when you have a large site, making one change is better than a hundred changes, even if it is automated.
$cat
There are numerous services available for small business to sell on the web at a fraction of the cost requireed for physical retail space. Most range from simple hosting fees to a few hundred a month for promotion in a larger shopping site (i.e, Yahoo Store).
If the store gets an email address and actually reads the email, that makes them much more accessible.
Midgard Project - Open Source CMS
Look at the Z Shops on Amazon or Yahoo Stores in Yahoo Shopping. There are literally thousands. Some are failures, some do okay, some are hugely succesful - just like physical retail.
a "web presence" doesn't necessarily mean a giant e-commerce website, it can be as simple as a one page advertisement.
Why? Well, I may be in the minority, but a lot of people don't even search the yellow pages anymore, we go right to the web. An accountant isn't going to sell stuff over the internet (although a large accounting firm might), but I might like to enter my location and what I'm looking for in a search engine to find one - and get phone number, addresses, and possibly even directions.
It doesn't have to be a website for the whole world, it could be as simple as "Party Clown available in Wala-Wala Washington Area".
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Of course, it debatable whether that's actually any better.
Franchised retailing and chain stores do exist pretty much everywhere in the developed world, but the franchise and chain store is far more pervasive there than it is elsewhere.
So is this a good thing or a bad thing? I dunno. The efficient logistics of big retail probably means stuff is cheaper in the US under such a system than it is with more chaotic retailing. It also leads to staff who know nothing about the goods they sell, and a conspicuous sameness about the goods on offer. But then again, is eclectic, funky, and individual shops really the best thing creative people could do with their lives?
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
I don't think that there is anything wrong with a small business going online, as long as they don't get bilked by some web hosting provider that uses a bunch of acronyms to convince them of the benefits of their "cheap" $30/month hosting package while knowing full well that the site will probably get about 10 hits per month.
Also, I've seen very often where a small business will go all out and get a web page set up, looking good (or bad), and have all the great stuff about their business. Somebody's son designed it, or the bizness hired the same company that is hosting it to design the site too. The problem comes with updating it.
Often the owners of the business are far too concerned with actually taking care of their business and they either don't know how to or forget to update their web site. In the end, when people go to "grandmasflowerstore.biz" they see the site from early 2001 when the site first launched. It looks dated, and people get a bad impression from the old content and prices/specials.
Typical paranoid conspiracy theory rant.
"Where's the proof?"
"No proof because it's all secret"
"Ah... you must be right then."
Although you may need an expert to build it, you should be able to do repairs etc with minimum knowledge. Making the web more accessable is good news for everyone.
Yeah, and things like changing oil and spark plugs fit the bill. However, unless you yourself are an expert, next time your car needs the head gasket replaced, you're taking it in. That's all there is to it.
Web's the same way. You want a static page, well, that's pretty easy, and well within the capabilities of something like Frontpage or whatever. Need dynamically created content linked to an SQL database? Sorry, but you're not doing this yourself unless you're an expert. There is pretty much no way of making this available to the average schmoe, unless you want to make a cookie-cutter it-installs-itself version.
That's just how life works - there are aspects of both car repair and web design that are within grasp of morons, and aspects that aren't. And I think html is already pretty easy to work with thanks to creation engines (hell, it ain't that hard to write in emacs, but I digress).
Oh, and for what it's worth, the article kind of read like an ad for that guy's small-business web hosting. It seems to me that Bricklin's less interested in making information freely available than he is in the proliferation of for-profit tools - namely his. So don't forget the conflict of interest here.
Before the flames start, I'm NOT a web designer. I'm the guy with the shitty page written in a text editor. But at least it loads faster than you can blink. ;)
-Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat
Creating websites already _is_ easy. Creating a website that is good, well, that's alot harder. Static html pages are pretty unattractive nowadays. You need to be able to incorporate php or other scripting into your site in order for it to become truely useful and/or attractive to the passer-by.
But for your simple mom and pop shop anyway, they probably really only _need_ a simple html page to put their menu on or what have you, which let's face it, can be taught to a monkey how to do that in very little time.
I just wasted your mod points! HA!
the failure rate of small businesses.
" Owners of about one-third of the firms that closed said their firm was successful at closure"
33% after 2 years
50% after 4 years
60% after 6 years
http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.html
lots of small businesses close for reasons other than $.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
..Bricklin wants to change that and make creating Web sites as easy....
I know how to create a web site, I know all the goodies. You know *why* I can't create a good website?
I have no artistic talent. None whatsoever. I see all the nicely designed sites out there and think, "Sure, no sweat."
But then I try and they look horrible. All the HTML works fine, in fact the last site I did worked on 12 different platforms and were all viewed the same.
But it still looked like crap.
Anyone got some artistic talent they don't need?
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
A friend of mine made a small website for a Dutch garage that fixes up old citroen 2CV cars. A few months later they didn't advertise in magazines anymore as the website brought in more than enough work for them.
They're in a specialist business with a lot of people willing to do some searching on the net, so that makes this a bit different case from the four-in-every-town small shops, but nontheless.
Reinout
Reinout van Rees
According to the article, Interland offers small business hosting packaging from $23 per month. I can't exactly say that's cheap. Granted it includes domain registration and 30 email forwarders, but theres no site design, just a choice of templates. If they want anything more than static pages, it's extra $$$.
Like tinyurl, but one letter less! http://qurl.co.uk/
(of course that doesn't include hosting, which you can get from Hurricane Electric for way cheap.)
I'm exaggerating a little, but there's an important point here, and I'll illustrate it with a little bit of personal history. In 1985, I was told by a well-meaning acquaintance that I might want to reconsider my chosen career path because 4GLs were going to make programmers obsolete. Programming was going to be easy enough that anyone could do it.
That argument was already recycled at the time, although my would-be mentor probably didn't realize it. Compilers for high-level languages were originally going to put programmers out of a job. COBOL was going to be so much like English that businessmen (not businesspeople, it was the 1950's) would be able to understand it.
The flaw in this whole theory is vital to understanding business, and where the future of programming is likely to go. If you own a business and your product is not computer software or hardware, you do not make your money from writing code. You spend your time learning the skills relevant to your business. You research the market for what you sell, not the latest programming language.
Programs capture knowledge. That is one of their most important functions. As programmers, we have a great deal of specialized knowledge that is common across broad ranges of software. We know a variety of algorithms, strategies for error handling, data formats, network protocols, etc. None of that has anything to do with most businesses, any more than the guy running the sub shop down the street needs to know the electrical code.
Businesses use software the way they use lots of things. It makes no sense for them to learn to wire the building or build their web site. The sub shop owner has business needs. He needs lighting and power for the cash register, and a refridgerator over there. He may need to put up a web site advertising his business. But his interest in programming is at the content level: deliver web pages with particular information, and maybe take orders.
Putting up web sites from a tool that just lets users write some content, and select some options will necessarily limit those users to the options that are available. The full flexibility to innovate requires a tool that acts more like a language. Doing new things is a Turing equivalent problem. Doing existing things, even in new combinations does not have to be. The majority of users will never be programmers in the sense that specialists are. It doesn't matter that huge numbers of kids have learned some programming in school. I took biology in high school. I'm not a biologist.
It's all about division of labor. People who aren't overly technophobic will use tools that programmers provide. Millions of people use word processors, spreadsheets, presentation packages, and even indirectly, databases. Most won't ever write a macro for their word processor or a schema for a database, nor should they. They use the tools that specialists provide to help them do what they do well.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
If you can use microsoft word, you can build a web page. It IS allready as easy as using a PC!
FrontPage, Dreamweaver, and numerous others all make building a website a piece of piss!
It is fairly easy, with maybe one week(end) of HTML training, to write a simple informational webpage suitable for a small business. This is who we are, this is what we sell, here are pictures of what we sell, etc.
These simple webpages represent the full utility of the WWW.
However, most customers don't expect a simple and useful webpage in these marketing-department-infested times. Flash animations, morphing buttons, using graphical titles when <h1> will do, javascript abominations that are glorified links, and the like are now commonplace, and a business who puts up a fully-functional but non-glamourous website will be looked down upon by most potential customers.
The Web has always been democratic, really. Anyone can go download Apache and put some information online in a matter of minutes. However, like American democracy, a complacent, easily impressed (politicians in this era suffer from overmarketing as much as businesses) populace doesn't really benefit from a democratic system.
However in many colleges the people learning about web sites do not learn about building decent web sites, do not learn about accessibility, do not learn about usability, do not learn about maintaining the site, do not learn about reading logs to see if the site is used.
They do learn how to make huge and pointless flash animations, how to make IE only sites, how to make sites that show off fancy (and usually unnecessary) features, how to add in every feature they've heard of.
Too often they're like the webmaster I talked to once who (several years back when bandwidth was not easily accessible to most people) repeatedly said that streaming audio and video were to be an important part of his site. When I said that this would be a problem for much of his audience on slow lines, he told me "Then they don't deserve to see my site."
And for far too many, HTML is still one of those opaque programming language things for geeks. And often enough the web site designer types are told that such things are only for geeks and that learning any of those icky details is beneath them.
I'd still recommend the college kid - but ideally with sensible supervision.
http://oneandone.co.uk/xml/static/webpack_prof_wsc
I found this while I was looking around at getting a new hosting service. It has a demo that you can try out - I was quite impressed - a kind of paint-by-numbers website creator...
(I'm not assosciated with these people at all, by the way...)
I have seen many small businesses (especially small businesses in fact) that have been convinced to put up a web site and then it just sits there and collects dust. I can't count the number of times I go to a site and find out of date event lists and calendars, or menus that don't reflect the current offerings, or even directions and phone numbers that are no longer valid.
Just HAVING a web site is not enough. Many small businesses are done a disservice when they are pulled into the modern world, convinced to put up a web site by some hi-tech evangelist, and then abandoned as the real (but boring) work of updating and maintaining the site sets in.
Wiki is a good an accessible way to generate content. The language is very intuitive (not as hard as HTML), and if even it was intended for open collaborative generation of content, there are a lot that provides authentication, ACLs, etc (i.e. TikiWiki provides a good portal system with easy administration and wiki as content generation language).
Creating a website is easy, we have clients who knew nothing about HTML or the web that have put together simple sites for their businesses.
Creating a website that actually looks good and works well and that actually is a benefit to the business is an entirely different matter.
What we come across time and time again is a business that has created a site themselves but the site is doing nothing for them because it wasn't built search engine friendly, or the graphics are 200+k each or they are using dark red on a dark blue (insert own bad colour scheme here! ) background making the page unreadble. Many people seem to think that : more crazy gif animations = better website.
Most people don't realise that they have to prepare their site for the search engines, or that multiple 200+k graphics are going to make visitors go elsewhere.
The other big misconception is that once they have a website, that's it, they're on the web, they're going to make money.
Trying to persuade a client that they need to update their site on a regular basis and that they should put the URL everywhere they can (business cards, store window etc etc ) is usually met with the response 'oh, ok' but then no action.
To sum it up, creating a site is one thing, but it's only the first step to a successful site and most people don't realise that.
There's a lot wrong here, but also a larger problem.
Larger problem:
If by Mom & Pop stores we mean small, privately owned retailers with single-digit locations, then the problem presented to them by the internet is that they have to compete with the national chains *at all*. Before, the national chains weren't in their area. Now the area's overlap, and for some Mom & Pop's that's a very bad thing. Before they existed just because they didn't have to compete with the chains, or, more precisely, because they were able to win the competition with their location. Now they both have an opportunity to move in on each other's customers. The reason the chains will often win is not that it's hard for Mom & Pop to build a website, but that it's hard (read: impossible) for Mom & Pop to match the supply chain and advertising budget of the larger stores. It costs nothing for the chains to start serving Mom & Pop customers via the Internet; It costs a fortune to start serving the rest of the world when you are used to serving only one or two locations. And merely maintaining their present customer base is not an option. Not many people want to order online from the store around the corner. They'll either walk to the store, or else buy from whomever has the lowest online price.
A lot wrong:
That said, it really isn't the expense or difficulty of a website that is hurting Mom & Pop stores. Things are actually skewed wildly in their favor here. It takes very little time, money, or expertise to get a website going that does the job well for the kind of customer base that a Mom & Pop store needs to serve. It takes a lot more resources to get one going that will serve the entire nation (in real, not just potential buyers). Thus the Mom & Pop can get something up and grow as fast as they gain the money to. It took years longer for Kmart, Walmart etc. to get online, because it was such a large undertaking. The fact that, unless you're a niche retailer, the big boys will still kick your ass once they show up, is not a feature unique to the internet. It's also important to note that, if you *are* a niche retailer, most of the good things apply and few of the bad. Walmart is not so big as to want to go into antique bedframes. So you get your chance to server a much larger audience, but without the new nation-wide competition. At worst you will only be competing with other Mom & Pop stores.
I have learned a few tricks - which follow. Even so, nobody (least of all myself) will claim that most of my web pages are pretty - I will claim that the information in them is easy to find and accessible.
The first is to find a simple style that you like, encode it in a style sheet and just use it consistently. Simple is best. You can usually find a reasonable style somewhere in some web page.
Secondly - find someone who does have a sense of style and get them to help with the style, maybe using some website builder.
Thirdly, critique websites. Spend some time just visiting random websites and saying what is good or bad about them. I'd suggest making a kind of web notebook and rate pages on usability, style, and so on - you can use a web page with forms to enter this information as well as the page url so you can revisit things.
Finally, experiment. Try building all kinds of pages with all sorts of different styles. Get someone else to look at them and tell you how they look. The more you do the better, so just slap them together.
...creating something worth looking at is hard.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
It soon becomes apparent though that merely creating a space is not enough. It is actually quite limiting communicating within the confines of the web. So personally I think ease of web use is not the be all.
---- The Open Source Record Label : : LOCARECORDS.COM
I just started goldfish juggling
Seriously, you need help.
But try this:
http://home.sprynet.com/~awhit/becker.htm
"Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything." (attrib. Joseph Stalin)
... why don't they shoot for as easy as using a Mac? ;)
My father owns a business. A farm. He grows corn, beans, wheat, and some clover here and there. He sells to local elevators, and knows all the people he interacts with. He doesn't use a computer, much less have a website. He doesn't need one.
However, you might correct yourself and say that all SERVICE businesses should have a website. I agree, as another form of communication, and advertising is a great asset. I use a local database of local businesses quite often, www.activedayton.com, and i really do think that the webspace pays for itself for those that use it, even if it's only contact info, business hours, and a short description for a very small hole-in-the-wall business.
I applaud this attempt to reach those local businesses which don't have any web presence. It would just make my life a lot easier, being able to access data that much faster. Good luck!
Does anyone else find these visual/physical cues in written communication to be distracting and annoying?
" Many small businesses (not all, but many) survive because they are the only ones offering their specific product line in their area, so they can get away with higher prices, sloppy service, etc. What the Internet brings to them is the same thing large chain stores bring: competition with lower prices and better service."
Small!=worse service
Large!=better service.
I've found (comming from a small town) that the small businesses have better customer service overall, while the big chains mostly don't.
Mass production works great on products, not so good on service.
If you are this gullible you really should browse at +2.
That's why I use Interchange.
If you can update a spreadsheet you can keep your site updated.
" Somewhat-OT rant: I'd love to have an option to pay a mechanic or utility guy an extra $20/hour or whatever to put up with a clueless n00b who asks lots of silly questions. (or even $10/hour to have a nice cup of STFU and just watch :)"
There's words for that. It's called a vocational school, and no I'm not trying to be funny. They're more than willing to take your money, and teach you all this stuff.
If an executive order can bypass the congress and constitution, why wouldn't George Bush ban abortion?
An executive order is basically a memo to employees of the president and his cabinet. He can tell them to do (or not do) certain things, but he can't order them to violate the law (without their consent).
Even farmers can benefit from a little extra advertising. For example, if your father grows clover, then he almost certainly has some bees. You would be surprised what people will pay for honeycomb, and selling a little sweet corn at retail prices doesn't hurt either.
Your father is in a commodity business with very few potential buyers. In that sort of a situation keeping prices down is paramount. However, increasingly the farmers that stay in business are those that are able to run some sort of a business on the side. I know quite a farmer that makes almost as much profit running a Pumpkin Patch, corn maze, and petting zoo near Halloween as they do farming.
also, on the subject of web design, i grit my teeth when i hear such uninformed comments as 'i'll hire a college student to do it,' would you hire a law student to be your lawyer? would you hire a CS student to be your MIS manager? while there may be an example out there somewhere, 99% of the time when somebody hires a student to do their website, they end up with a half-baked piece of s#t that they eventually have to hire a professional to fix--here's a clue, if it looks easy, it ain't...finally, on the subject of template designs, again, this has been around for years, it's never worked, and never will--it just looks good when said company goes looking for investors--i wish dan bricklin well, however, i wouldn't touch his venture with a 10-foot pole...
my.02
-mojo
Trying to sell something common on the Internet doesn't work nearly so well. It is easy to buy locally a gallon of milk, a copy of Newsweek, or a case of Pepsi.
Immediately after the merger, my email became unreliable. I would get several bounce messages per week from an active majordomo list I was on. On more than one occasion, inbound email simply stopped altogether for over a day, sending (the same) bounce messages to correspondents to myself and my staff.
After establishing that they had no intention of diagnosing and fixing the problem, I moved my account to another provider and duly informed Interland. I did not demand a refund for the two months of inadequate service.
They kept charging me $95 per month (yeah, too much, another reason to switch), so I emailed and called, getting assurances that the problem was resolved and my money would be refunded. This occurred on three occasions (amounting to four cancellations, and three promises of a refund). The details of the incompetence and confusion of the cutomer service in this incident are largely lost in the mists of time, but I recall it was generally a big waste of time.
Eventually they stopped billing my credit card, but the refund never arrived. I am of the opinion that Interland stole $570 cash from me, as well as several hours of my time, not to mention a competent hosting service.
They sent me an exit interview email when they finally closed the account. I told the story in great detail, but never got any further response.
If this is how they intend to get small businesses online let me just say that I have my doubts about how well it will go.
mt
Bullshit. I've read the full texts of several executive orders and they do much more than you assume. Executive orders have the rule of law, and bypass Congress entirely except for the dispositionary clauses. Bush doesn't just ban abortion because it would cause massive upheaval - and considering backlash, the power of executive orders would be shown to the public. Presidents are normally hesitant to use EO's because of the negative press they may receive - accusations of totalitarianism, etc.
I couldn't access the article. It required a login.
To know is to have knowledge....to understand is to be enlightened.
Making a Web site as easy as using PC assumes that using a PC is 'easy'. I'll bet at least 1/2 of the US workforce will tell you there is nothing 'easy' about using a PC.
Changing the oil in a car requires un-screwing 2 caps, and dumping in new oil. Most people don't have a clue how to do it though.
true, but it's a VERY limited field, with very high risks, to do anything but regular farming. if an investment goes bad, you lose everything. and you have no way to get back in, ever. you're basically screwed, and your family too, for life.
oh, and no bees. i don't even see why you would think we'd keep bees? maybe you're from new york or california, who knows.
Interestingly enough my original submission was not posted in its entirety. The last line originally read:
Bricklin is now CTO of Interland, a company which I have few positive things to say about.
We were with HostPro as well -- phenomenal QoS and customer service -- I recommended them to several people. Then came Interland.
I won't go into all of the sordid details here but Interland has just sucked. We have noticed brief and minor improvements in service when we compalined loudly wnough, but those were just blips. The service continued on its downward slide consistently.
Recently we had no access to e-mail or administration of the site for over 2 MONTHS!!!
We finally have a new sales rep who seems to be responsive, but we shall see how long this continues and are preparing to move to another provider if the promises receive no follow-through.
OTOH that 0.01% has probably 99.9% of the disposable income, so "we all" is the target demographic.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
Who modded this "+1 Insightful"? I've got an insight for you: I'm not dead!
Karma: Undead.