What sites will they buy?

<i>>Choosing good Java sites is a mis-representation of the true value of</i>
the
<i>>Internet</i>
<i>>Sites with great bells and whistles are nice, but the average user of</i>
the
<i>>Internet can't access these sites and the decision maker in most</i>
<i>>corporations probably won't see the true value of investing their money</i>
in
<i>>websites like that. Most people are accessing with 14.4 modems and</i>
slower,
<i>>still a larger portion of Internet users are using text based browsers</i>
like
<i>>at many colleges and universities.</i>

My experience has been entirely the opposite. When exhibiting demo
sites, our clients have been attracted to the "extras"; they seem turned
off by sites that, while strong in content, are visually conservative.
Their response to such sites is, "why should I build a site like that
when I can do the same thing with a traditional brochure?" I've ever
heard people say that they don't care about content at all, that they
just want a site to "look nice."

I'm not saying that this is right, as I believe in strong content as much
as anyone. But it's the way that many people -- particularly those not
familiar with the Web -- tend to respond to sites. When selling, you
have to put on a darn good dog-and-pony show; there will always be time
to ensure solid content after you make the sale. :) Additionally, no one
wants to invest in what can easily be perceived as yesterday's
technology; they want what's on the cutting edge, because they know it
will be mainstream before long.

I see a real split emerging in Web design philosophy: those who advocate
content strength, conservative code, and consideration for those with
slower modems and older machines, versus those who damn the torpedoes,
push the Java and Shockwave envelopes and go for flash. Personally, I
don't see why this split is necessary. You can build a sharp site that
accommodates *both* power users *and* those with older equipment, and
still offer plenty of compelling content.

****************************
Brian Pomeroy
Web Editor, SLACK, Inc.
Author, "BeginnerNet: A Beginner's Guide to the Internet and the World
Wide Web"
6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, NJ 08086 USA
E-mail: bpomeroy@slackinc.com
WWW: &lt;a href="<a href="http://www.slackinc.com/">http://www.slackinc.com/</a>"&gt;http://www.slackinc.com/&lt;/a&gt;
Personal Web site: &lt;a href="<a href="http://www.ison.com/pomeroy/">http://www.ison.com/pomeroy/</a>"&gt;http://www.ison.com/pomeroy/&lt;/a&gt;
*****************************

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