Did you see the cover of the September issue of Wired Magazine? How could you miss that neon orange cover with giant bold letters that simply said “THE WEB IS DEAD” For those who don’t know, Wired Magazine is the bastion of geek chic publications since 1993, known for their wildly colorful 2-page graphical layouts, and thought provoking articles like Bill Joy’s classic “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us.” As a web developer since 1997, naturally I had to find out why Wired thinks the web is dead. For if Wired says that the web is dead, who needs me? Who needs a professional web development company anymore? Why do I matter?
Chris Anderson clearly lays out his position in this Wired article, that if your typical digital day rolls like many of us, beginning with email [Outlook for me] then Facebook, Google News and Google Reader, listening to the latest NPR podcast, and then finally onto Pandora for workday tunes, then you and I are spending our day on the Internet but NOT on the Web. “This is not a trivial distinction…one of the most important shifts in the digital world over the past few years, has been the move from the wide-open Web to semi-closed platforms that use the Internet for transport but not the browser for display. It’s driven primarily by the rise of the iPhone [iPad and Blackberry] model of mobile computing…and it’s a world that Google cant crawl…and it’s a world that consumers are increasingly choosing…because these dedicated platforms often just work better or fit better into their lives…” Ari Melber in The Nation magazine states that “Americans now spend more time on Facebook than on the next 5 most popular websites combined.”
So with most of the world on Facebook and the web dead, again who needs a professional web development firm? If anyone can get a 2-minute web site for $10 to $15 per month why is my company (established in 1997 – ancient history in web world) why are we still here? Well my friend, if you’re reading this article, then you either have worked with us, are about to work with us or will work with us someday in the not too distant future.
Forrester Research. Forecasts that online retails sales will grow to $250 billion by 2014. This sounds really good in the depths of the recession. The truth is what was once a luxury is now a necessity. If you are one of those who say “I love technology” you need a web site. If you are one of those who say, “I hate technology” you need a web site. Or how about the paradox of the web…how many times have you tried to buy something from a web site that didn’t work or had problems? The unfortunate truth is that it is business as usual. Understanding the shopping cart buying protocol, the battle for the brain, integrating development trends, and weaving the principles of beautiful web design into your site will help you achieve the results you are seeking. The Web may be dead, but First Crescent is very much alive.
