I have watched a ton of websites launch recently that have a semi-creative header, a colorful footer, and the center of the website has vast empty spaces for no rhyme or reason. This is the area that the website developer has left up to the client to manage. The problem is, the client has no idea how to fill that white space properly (if they can). This is a failure in my opinion. As a developer, I want my work to be somewhat controlled.

Let me explain further…

Look at this page from a local website development company who has a huge, expensive, proprietary, content management system that is extremely inefficient to develop and maintain. I don’t even want to talk about the client hand-holding and training that is involved with these propritary systems. These systems only benefit the developer, because the client can’t just take their website to another website development company like they can with an open source solution like WordPress or Drupal.

Do you see how disjointed this looks? This entire website looks like things were placed mechanically and arbitrarily because the content had to go somewhere, not because it was meant to be there. The developer attempted to build a photo application that was a solution for anyone who uses the system, not just a solution for this client. This is one reason why these patchwork content management systems are a waste of money. If I was this client, I would be extremely dissatisfied. Why is that scroll bar there? Why not put the thumbnails on the right? Where are the directional controls that guide me how to scroll through images? How about a slideshow view? There are so many things wrong with this page that it prompted me to write this article! I can go on about this picture, but I won’t.

Here is another page from the same website. Look at all the wasted space. Why not tile these? Where is the descriptive text? How does this site induce me to make a decision to buy or request more information?

My goal here is not to bash this website, or even this developer. My goal is to prove why proprietary content management systems that are built by small website development companies are hugely inefficient and a waste of time, money and resources that could be spent on more robust and commercially availible solutions. Wordress, Drupal, and Joomla all have page layout options that allow a customer to choose how a page is displayed and can help them avoid all of these common mistakes.

The biggest advantages over a proprietary CMS are security and support. The security teams that work for WordPress and Drupal are literally world class engineers and there are dozens of them. There are also video tutorials, tons of user communities and a vast array of written documentation available. I can find a solution to any problem I have with WordPress or Drupal with a simple Google search or two. Try that with a proprietary CMS.

I look forward to hearing your feedback!

At the 2011 Consumer Electronic Show, Motorola announced a new device called the Motorola Atrix. Since my first PDA device 6 or 7 years ago, I knew this type of device was coming but, I never expected it this soon.

The Motorola Atrix is a perfect example of technological convergence. It solves many challenges and fits all the criteria most of us will ever need from a mobile computing device. The Motorola Atrix will allow us to travel from home to the office and, even take it on vacation. The Atrix is only the beginning of these ultra portable telephone and computing devices. You can read all about it right here.

A few years ago, when 3D bar codes came out and everyone was running around the office scanning things with their Palm Treo’s, I though about the future. I envisioned a world where as we drive around in our cars, GPS technology would show us advertisements from area businesses. These businesses could then have 3D bar codes or even interactive AD’s that play on your telephone and allow us to take advantage of sales as they happen in real time.  A shop keeper in your neighborhood can blow out an entire inventory of widgets in one day, with little to no planning or upfront financial investment. Google, Bing, facebook, PayPal, Amazon, or Yahoo! would handle the location-based advertising and  merchant services (credit card transaction) and take a percentage of the sale(s) all in one shot. This is already happening today.

This is a fantastic video of Jesse Schell speaking at a conference for game developers called DICE 2010. His presentation is titled “Design Outside The Box”. In the video, Jesse explains how the entire world around us is one big advertising canvas which can be utilized to display marketing in otherwise unconventional and I am sure what will become controversial ways. I won’t add a bunch of hyperbole here, just watch the video and decide for yourself. I welcome your comments!