The Tricryptogon

Banny And Lissa
by Dave Lerner

Sorry about the absence. I hope to be back by September 15 October 6, with a full explanation. Or, at least, a decent excuse.

Keep an eye on the Links And Web-Rings, 'cause I update them constantly. And if you wanna swap links, see the bottom of the page.
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E-Ditorial

The Ethical Non-Dilemma

Hello and welcome to the E-ditorial. The E-, by the way, is similar to the e- in e-mail.

If it's bad manners, it's bad business.

Jim Sterne http://www.targeting.com
jsterne@targeting.com Target Marketing
Author: "World Wide Web Marketing" 805-965-3184
and "Customer Service on the Internet Consultant

The above quote is from way back in 1996, generations ago in computer terms. However, this ancient wisdom still holds true today. A long while ago on comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html some asked a question:

>SUBJECT: Re: Design Ethics/Integrity. Do they matter?

The original poster had happened on a site that said good web design was not important for professional web designers because, among other reasons, "most clients don't know the difference between a page that has been designed well and a poorly designed page", and that a page that looked good on some browsers but lousy on others would be a loss to the client, not the web designer. The poster was disturbed by the "advice", but was uncertain as to its value.

The question proposed was: Should Integrity or Money be more important?

My reply was as follows (slightly altered):

  1. What if your client buys the page, then goes home and tries it on his browser and it looks like garbage? Who do you think will get the blame?
  2. If a potential client is looking for a web-designer, and she accesses your web-site and it looks like garbage will she hire you?
  3. If you put together a portfolio of URL's you created to show potential clients, and a potential client browses on the wrong browser, see question 2.

People talk about the conflict between Integrity and Money, but I believe that in the long run, if you do a slip-shod job you will have neither.

I believe that applies to much more than just web design. There is a saying (and Iwish I could remember who said it so I could attribute it): The only thing a customer remembers better than good service is bad service.

Unethical behavior may possibly produce short-term profits, but in the long run, it can lead to customer alienation; loss of status among peers, colleagues, competitors; and possible lawsuits.

I try to have the highest ethics possible. I may not always succeed, but I try.

It's good business.

That's my opinion. What's yours?

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