Three Basic Uses

August 2nd, 2007

We’ve found that in general, Websites are used by business for any combination of three purposes.

  • Promotional Brochures - companies use promotional sites to provide marketing information on their services and/or products, qualifications, contact information, etc.
  • Customer Service - companies use Websites to bring customers into contact with other businesses - like online marketplaces, to provide specific information such as progress on a project. Let’s not forget about E-Commerce where businesses provide an online ability to purchase or rent products, schedule things like airline flights and events,
  • Internal Staff - companies provide their internal staff with the ability to do work remotely. For example, a payroll clerk could manage payroll from a lap top computer in a book store. A sales rep. can pull up information on specific customers, managers can work at home. We’ve been involved in the development of a software application that let a manager in Dallas, TX operate a large textile plant in San Antonio, all over the Internet.

    • Posted in Website Uses | No Comments »

    Greed Rules

    August 2nd, 2007

    OK, to kick this debate off, I’ll start by taking the side of the commercial, licensed, for sale software. I develop software for a living. That means if I don’t ’sell’ the software I develop, I don’t eat. If I’m trying to sell software and you’re giving it away for free, I find it much more difficult to make a living.
    When Open Source first started to become popular, I was excited. I could get all kinds of software without paying a dime for it. Slowly, I started seeing a direct effect on my business.

    The Open Source movement really is remarkable, I just wonder how feasable it is, especially in a capitalistic society. I mean, shouldn’t we start giving away food? and clothes? cars and houses? If we as a society could agree that we’ll all freely contribute our share to society as a whole, we might have something. It’s been tried and so far with *dismal* results. Unfortunately, GREED RULES!

    I realize that not all Open Source software is free but let’s face it, most of it is and that is pretty much the idea.

    If I develop/create *anything*, I believe I have the right to do pretty much anything I want with it - including destroy it completely. If I decide to let you use it, I’m convinced that ethically, I’m well within my rights to tell you (contractually) how, when and where you may use my software and what I might obtain in compensation for agreeing to let you use it - that’s a license.

     Having stated this position, notice the Blog software that we’re using, WordPress, a beautiful Open Source software application:-)

    OK, I’ve opened - please register and add your viewpoint.

    Posted in DEBATE: Microsoft® VS Open Source | No Comments »

    Welcome to the SLS Blog

    August 1st, 2007

    Here we’ll maintain an ongoing commentary on the World Wide Web. We’ll cover many different ways that companies are taking advantage of the Internet to generate business. We’ll also review some of the problems and pitfalls we’ve encountered with our clients over the years.

    Posted in General | 1 Comment »