The main reason to bill a 50% deposit is cash flow for your business. Most of the clients you work with are obviously going to be business owners themselves, or are making managerial business decisions, all of whom most likely have experience with these types of purchases.
When you're looking at a development that takes weeks, if not months, this is a fairly reasonable and standard industry practice for maintaining positive cash flow.
I'd try and talk with the guy. Let him know your concerns, and outline the reasons why you think software patents are stifling.
I think you can reasonably express your discomfort to submitting a patent without losing your job.
He might change his mind, he might not. However you would still be obliged to fulfil his request.
Nice thought, however I think 'web 3.0' will actually be heading towards a more social web. It's already beginning with applications like facebook and myspace.
I think the true web 3.0 will actually be technology that allows users to connect with online personalities/identities. Currently those profiles are walled into someone else's server. Web 3.0 should change that.
It may look a bit fancier with these great new frameworks coming out, however I believe these frameworks will only aid in presenting the next web shift, not defining it.
I know it's not open source, however Expression Engine I believe is THE most powerful CMS for non-technical minded people. There is a free 'base' version for personal use, however the commercial license is cheap as chips in my opinion.
I know that there has been some debate between Exp.Eng. & Drupal, however I believe for non-tech users, Expression Engine wins hands down.
That said, Joomla is a better 'out of the box' solution if you wanted to have a fully functional portal on install. However I find it frustrating as hell to customise it for basic brochure ware sites. Expression Engine shines when you want precise control over how functions look and feel, and is very easy to set up quick & sexy solutions.
Sorry, went off-topic.
I agree. I remember when I got my first iPod it was close to $1000 AUD... A couple of years later and they're cheap as chips (relatively speaking).
Same thing will happen with iPhone. It'll start out quite expensive, gain a following with cashed up early adopters, then will become a lot cheaper with many variations and price points. Making the early adopters someone begrudged by it all:-)
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The main reason to bill a 50% deposit is cash flow for your business. Most of the clients you work with are obviously going to be business owners themselves, or are making managerial business decisions, all of whom most likely have experience with these types of purchases. When you're looking at a development that takes weeks, if not months, this is a fairly reasonable and standard industry practice for maintaining positive cash flow.
I'd try and talk with the guy. Let him know your concerns, and outline the reasons why you think software patents are stifling. I think you can reasonably express your discomfort to submitting a patent without losing your job. He might change his mind, he might not. However you would still be obliged to fulfil his request.
.... I wonder what the ebay fees on this auction will be :-|
Nice thought, however I think 'web 3.0' will actually be heading towards a more social web. It's already beginning with applications like facebook and myspace. I think the true web 3.0 will actually be technology that allows users to connect with online personalities/identities. Currently those profiles are walled into someone else's server. Web 3.0 should change that. It may look a bit fancier with these great new frameworks coming out, however I believe these frameworks will only aid in presenting the next web shift, not defining it.
I know it's not open source, however Expression Engine I believe is THE most powerful CMS for non-technical minded people. There is a free 'base' version for personal use, however the commercial license is cheap as chips in my opinion. I know that there has been some debate between Exp.Eng. & Drupal, however I believe for non-tech users, Expression Engine wins hands down. That said, Joomla is a better 'out of the box' solution if you wanted to have a fully functional portal on install. However I find it frustrating as hell to customise it for basic brochure ware sites. Expression Engine shines when you want precise control over how functions look and feel, and is very easy to set up quick & sexy solutions. Sorry, went off-topic.
I agree. I remember when I got my first iPod it was close to $1000 AUD... A couple of years later and they're cheap as chips (relatively speaking). Same thing will happen with iPhone. It'll start out quite expensive, gain a following with cashed up early adopters, then will become a lot cheaper with many variations and price points. Making the early adopters someone begrudged by it all :-)