That last post was fun but now it's time to put on my serious hat and my matching serious pants and do some serious writing. Disclaimer: This post is equal parts rant and prosthelization.
There have been some web-related dilemmas knocking around in my head and I thought posting about them might make the inside of my head a little quieter. I need to get some work done and I can't have these little quandaries making noise. So here they are in no specific order.
HTML Email: Holy crap, what a headache. For anyone who has had to navigate the minefield of countless client-side bugs and ridiculous neglect of web standards, you know what I'm talking about. For everyone else, here's an analogy. Imagine being asked to design a pair of gloves. Not a big deal, right? But there's a slight hitch. Not everyone who will wear these gloves have the same number of fingers. Some don't even have fingers and others aren't really sure how many fingers they have. How can you possibly design a glove for all these people? The solution: Design a big ugly mitten and hope for the best. I have serious doubts about the efficacy of HTML emails, I don't think I've ever received one that has rendered properly (or at all). There's this ongoing conflict between the client who wants to email a print ad and the ugly mittens we have to send out.
Bells and Whistles for Bells' and Whistles' Sake: "Because it's possible" is not an acceptable reason to add something to a website. This paragraph's other name is: "1999 called and it wants its 'Send to a Friend' links back." I think I'll just leave it at that.
Paying for clicks without considering what happens after the click: AdWords, banners and all other PPC tricks are completely pointless if you don't give the user anything in return for their click. As the sage Seth Godin has said, it's as if you're telling a joke but delivering some unrelated punchline at the end. Here's a crazy idea, how about we take some cash out of the huge media buy and put it into a nice landing page that might *gasp* cause user interaction.
Ok. That's enough venting for one night. I promise the next post will have some amusing MP3s or funny photoshopped pictures of celebrities.