RE: FLASH: RE: Macs and market share Question

[Simon Mills]

Oh here we go again.


However, Kevin, I don't know what your problem is. I didn't think the mail

was a personal attack or a defence of the Mac. It just makes sense to cover

as many platforms as possible and it's not really a big deal.


best,


Simon



>> 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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