firemonger.org

The most basic definition of technology is given as the manner in which we do things; and the manner in which we do things is aptly captured by Cordyceps. Think of it this way; what is essentially a weed is converted into a poultice, a concoction, a medicinal extract that will quell whatever ailment ails an individual. Now that is what technology is all about- value addition. This is a fine example of what technology when harnessed to aide the progression on mankind can benefit the family of humanity. The flip side of this construct is that technology can also have its own downside; a dark side. This is illustrated below:

The best example of technology gone bad is exemplified by their internet – let’s face it its transformed every sphere of our lives – from the manner in which business is conducted (via e-commerce), the manner by which folks access information (via search engines and virtual libraries such as Wikipedia). The flip side of this progression is that the same information superhighway is used to execute devious plans crafted by wily individuals in society. To this end, you have folk who engage in identity theft, or folk who will trash tenets of civilized society and use this newfound tool to change the rules of well-established ground rules (think of how social news media violates some cardinal rules of journalism).

The article is not calling on readers to be Luddites – a social protest group that was violently opposed to the Industrial Revolution in 18th century England. What the article calls for is for individuals to ensure that society will essentially balance between the good and the evil that is represented by technology. Like the legendary sword that hung over the head of Damocles society does well to realize that poorly harnessed technology can be a tragedy in waiting. Only then will humanity echo the words of the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, regarding technology: One small step for man, one giant leap for humanity.

The web is swamped with new standards, programming languages, and other “goodies”. Some of these new technologies give birth to very neat ways of conveying a message to the web site visitor. Clever, flashy, never seen before… Wait a minute. Can’t load applet? What?

Yes, for years they told you “The best web site in the world is worthless if no one finds it”. True. So why do these same people design web sites that are not compatible with anything but the newest version of the major web browsers, only one type of web browser, or design Web Sites that require a very recent CPU in order to display at a normal speed?

It seems that too many high tech companies lose sight of the world that their clients live in. They seem to forget that not everyone checks for web browser upgrades on daily basis, or purchase a new computer every couple of years to keep up with the standards. Not everyone uses Internet Explorer, few people have the patience to watch a Flash opening each time they visit the Web Site, and even less people know what “This page was designed for 1024×768 or higher resolution.” means.

As I was recommended by Chicago SEO Services, in the everyday design of web sites you need to use the most up to date standards, not the most up to date gadgets supported by five percent of the web population. What does that mean? It means more people will see your page the way it was actually meant to be seen, search engines will better crawl your website & give it better rankings, people they will be able to read everything you have to say, and the design will not cost you as much as your business plan or a “High Tech Web Site” from the other guys.

Firefox is one of those great success stories.  They shouldn’t have ever made it, but they did.  They entered a business (browsers and email programs) which is incredibly competitive both in terms of programming, but also in terms of marketing.

I mean, would you want to compete with Microsoft and Google?

I wouldn’t, but then again my wine of the month club is competing with names like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and even Sunset Magazine.  I guess that doesn’t make for an easy entry point into the market either.

What I take from Firefox and from Mozilla is that through technology small companies have an opportunity to fight against much larger competitors.  That’s what I’m hoping to do.