Computers are NOT refrigerators!

One of my part time vocations is fixing computers and networks. Either as a contractor or someone calls me. It's funny, but I've come to notice that people treat computers pretty much like a refrigerator.

• No one pays any attention to it if it runs right.
• They stuff things in, and only take things out when they have to.
• They almost always take out the same things.
  
• Things are only fixed when they start looking really grotty, and are obviously not working right.
• Repairs are done when things are too far gone to help.
  
• The puns about how both can propogate infections could go on and on...

Most of the time, it's really computer servicing. The desktop or laptop is loaded with spyware or low-level viruses. Too many people rely on Windows firewall, or blame it for their computer slowing down and shut it off completely.
They either don't have any virus protection, or it's hopelessly out of date. One lady's system popped up a message saying her AVG software trial was 176 days past due! -- She wanted me to install a new free spyware and virus suite her cousin pirated for her. (I didn't.)
It's rare that there is a hardware problem.

The statistics tell the story. But there are real day to day concerns.
Australians came to the Internet and computers late. They've only had a few years to learn. Present government programs are offering $3000 worth of free training - 7-1/2 days - to get users more aware of what their new computers can do. To many though, a decade of computer- and Internet-phobic messages from government and the media have taken their toll. A lot of the positives have gotten lost in the message muck.
It's far more fashionable to resent or even hate computers around here.
The cost of Internet access, and the poor quality, hasn't helped. $69.95 a month for 100mb over a 128mbps line is joke. (Keep watching, there are more and better coming!) What has been a cheap utility item for the rest of the western world has proven an expensive, terrifying luxury around Australia. -- As if every fridge came with a cholera coating...

To their credit, some are learning fast the hard way about the problems of being always connected via ADSL. Usually these are small business owners who've grudgingly come to rely on their computers.
A few are getting very skilled at managing their computers, too. The over-35 and over-50 Internet users are taking things very seriously -- almost too seriously. Some of those folks are gonna push cheap computer tech businesses out of business.

You can't help but imagine Australians' attitude of treating computers like refrigerators is very much like the rest of the world.

A couple of tech companies are offering remote servicing: scheduled maintenance over the Net to keep systems running well.
A good idea, really. Once a month a tech logs in, checks the hardware and software, runs a few updates, then logs out after starting a virus scan. If there are any problems, there's a local phone number to call.
If you're not going to learn how to use a tool, at least hire someone to make sure it's running right.

People keep toys in their fridges and computers too.


SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey. Sphere: Related Content

Polls: How longdoes it typically take you to make a webpage from scratch?

From About.com:

I love Jennifer Kyrnin. She knows how to keep her readers interested by motivating feedback.

It seems like a pretty straight-forward question at first glance: How long?
Interestingly, it's easy to see that the more experienced web designers said it took them longer to make a web page.

Inexperienced page designers will simply layout a page, insert a few graphics and set the text layout to suit. Concerns such as SEO - many inexperienced page designers avoid the head tag altogether - keywords, and competition can be forgotten.
(The worst is subcontracting to someone who has sold a web page/site design to a client from all Flash, but that's another post..)

Experienced page designers are aware that every page is in competition with other pages all over the Net with the same topics and similar content. A good designer will keep this fact in mind and research competing pages from keywords and search listings.
To ignore the basics of SEO when designing a web page is hardly fraud but it comes close. At best, it's unprofessional. Without SEF considerations, a web page is just a prototype or mock-up. If that's what the client is paying for, good. But an ethical designer will tell them they don't have a functional web page no matter what widgets or devices are included.

27% of the poll respondents indicated they could make a web page in 'an hour or so' or less.

46% indicated it took 'half a day' or 'a day or two' to design a web page from scratch. If the page is in XHTML using good software, that sounds about right.
Now, if there are other considerations, such as scope creep (Client or designer keeps adding new things and ideas.), or the page is intended to work with a CMS or embedded devices that are integral to the presentation, a page can take longer.
It's a good rule of thumb that you can add the number of scope creep plus the number of devices as a percentage to the increased cost of a web page. Any total over 10 means the cost doubles - which often means adding a new page or two.

Pricing alone quickly becomes a sticking point, especially when there is a wide disparity between the skill level of the designer and the client. Price and useability (as the client understands it) can quickly push the time required into the 'a week' and 'more than a week' categories from the poll.
A better professional position for the designer is to avoid adding to the scope creep, even if it's hard to manage the creative juices burning inside. Somewhere between the unhappy knot of understating "Give the client what they want.", and those creative juices is a happy compromise for all.

It's a paradox of human nature that the web pages that take the longest are probably those where the designer is given free reign, - no matter what the price!
Designing for oneself is probably the worst example. The designer cannot keep the scope creep under control.
Designing for someone who has already paid - even if it's a small price - with freedom of design is a close second. The showmanship of the designer comes into play. S/he cannot avoid the tendency to want to show what they can do. Time constraints be damned.
It becomes a no-sum game between the goal(s) of the page and the skills of the designer.
Next comes the situation where it is the first work done for a large, prospective long-term client. The designer has to remember that the work follows the bureaucratic model: Whatever you do becomes expected, and you have to build from there (- which may be impossible...)
These situations take the longest.

Then there is the undiscovered technology page, where the designer wants to use a new technology and the client has no idea what is happening. Oh well.

SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey. Sphere: Related Content