[thelist] targeting effectively

[aardvark]

> From: Matt Liotta <mliotta at iname.com>
> >
> Well good for you and your clients. One of my clients, MSFT, asked me
> to make sure that only people with IE 6 and a certain version of the
> .NET CLR are able to look at certain content. I thought they were
> retarded, but guess what? They were paying for it, so they got what
> they wanted.

that doesn't prove anything except MS's business practices can be
exclusionary on any level...

> What most of the people in this thread seem to be missing is what the
> point behind doing work for a client is. The point is simply to
> deliver what the client wants. Sure you can suggest that they might
> actually want something else, but if the client wants something and it
> only is going to work in some browsers... Too fucking bad for the
> people without those browsers. There are always going to be features
> that aren't standards based. Why? Because standards take years to
> develop, while it doesn't take very look to make new features for a
> browser.

we've had the HTML4 standard for how long?  and how many
people use it correctly or well?  no, developers willing to support
standards takes years...

if the client wants a site, you need to guide the client... as i've said
much earlier in this thread, a well-educated client usually wants to
get that hit on 100% of users, while still offering the sweetness for
the 90%... some people here can't do that... that's too bad,
because there is rarely a case where you truly need to throw that
10% away, and telling your client that's the case all the time is a
disservice...

> We are know how this works. One browser comes up with a new feature
> that isn't in the standard. Some other browser implements a similar
> feature. If you want to use the feature you have to code it different
> for each browser. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO DO IT. Sure you can try and
> convince the client that they don't want that feature, but if the
> client really wants that feature then the client will get that
> feature. Maybe not from you, but they will get it from someone.

yes, they will... which is why i make clients sign-off when i
expressly warn them that it will negatively impact some users...
and when the clients come back to me, and they sometimes do,
asking why their aunt vinnie can't see it, i can explain with a clear
mind and proper documentation...