RE: FLASH: RE: Macs and market share Question

[Kevin Jackson]

> Hi, just a pro developer here, using primarily Macs, and I have to answer

> truthfully, yes, to the above question.


Thanks for starting out with a snide attack there. One of the reasons it's

hard to bring up (IMHO) valid questions is this crap.


. Perhaps our firm is an exception, but we have made a fine living

understanding and conquering the

> multi-platform/browser issues, and it simply isn't as big a deal as some

> of the more whiny developers here and elsewhere would like to make out.


and another


> Designing for Mac in general is far less expensive than designing for AOL

> and WebTV issues, and even though the latter is in another alleged 2%

> minority, you simply have to account for demographics and how it applies

> to your product when designing your site.


At last perhaps a valid point, "simply abccounting for demographics"

>

> WebTV people tend to have disposable income, as do Mac owners.


If this is true, this could also be a valid point. I would be curious why if

someone had disposable income they chose the cheapest possible way to get on

the Net though. but you could be right I don't have any studies.


For the extra $100-900 (depending on number of pages) average per HTML-based

site

> revision it takes to account for each of these platforms, all you need is

> a relatively small percentage of your gross to make up for the costs, and

> a Flash-based site modification for Mac IE 4.x is a one-time-cost that

> can be cut'n'pasted form there on.  And, remember, a sale isn't the only

> thing you want your customer to bring you; a good experience and good

> word of mouth is more valuable to you than a single sale.


I agree here. At some point, there is less return than expense though. I

doubt that anyone designs for every possible connection, browser, platform

etc. At some point we all owe it to the customer to put the numbers on the

table and tell them the pros and cons of any decision they make. That was my

question not an attack on your precious MAC.


> Just imagine your website is your physical storefront. Are you

> comfortable excluding access to your point of sale because of a handicap

> someone might have (let's ignore the legality for the moment)? Not that I

> care to think of the Mac as a handicap, but a poorly designed Microsoft

> product (IE4.x) is as good as one, despite the quality of the Mac itself.


I'd never be comfortable excluding anyone. Hard reality is that businesses

do it every day. At some point they have to decide if they can appeal to

everyone.


> Are you prepared to tell someone with a walker or wheelchair to go away,

> that you don't have the time to build a ramp so that they can patronize

> your store?


Next you'll have us going after children. Not all businesses have ramps.

Does that mean they are heartless or that perhaps their business can't

afford it or that they may have a clientele that will probably never need

one. Skydiving equipment perhaps.


... And, let's get back to the reality here: Is it the Mac that's the

> problem, or is it Internet Exploder?


In reality it doesn't matter. (Is it the PC or the software running on it

would be the same argument)


(ferkrissakes, it's not like you have to make an entirely different

> SWF for each browser). If you can't justify that minimal cost to your

> client, then I suggest your client is either selling gumballs or PC-only

> products and doesn't care, or has chosen the wrong web developer to begin

> with.


I asked a question and the vast majority of your post was personal attack

and invective. If you wanted to say, it makes sense to design for these

reasons fine. If you want to pray at the altar of the MAC, get a friggin

life. It's just a tool and had NOTHING to do with the question I raised. Do

you do text based sites for all of your customers, design for 16 colors,

since you brought up handicaps do you design all of your sites with every

possible aid to those folks? My guess is that at some point you make a

rational decision or give advice based on what you think is valid

information. Perhaps you're even capable of it in all areas other than your

beloved MAC.


Only question I asked is at what point do the numbers make a difference. In

your mind, I assume never.


Kevin Jackson

kjacksontriskelian [dot] com

Not everything in the world is an attack on the MAC. I guess we should never

even ask any questions that might have a MAC in them.



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