[thelist] Re: My 12 year old son can do websites

[holmegm at comcast.net]

john at johnallsopp.....   wrote:

>I don't know if this is off topic or not (I'll tip anyway), but a client
>said to me yesterday "my 12 year old son made a really good looking
>website yesterday using Microsoft Publisher, do you use that?"
>
>What this says is that the client has zero understanding of what the
>difference is between what we all do here on this list, and what a 12 year
>old can do with MP.

Well, first of all, there's no inherent reason that a 12 year old *couldn't*
make a good website.  With no other information, I'd say it is unlikely he
did a better job than an adult professional, but seeing some commercial
sites out there ...

We do have one additional piece of information; that the kid used Publisher
to make it.  So it is unlikely that it is "good", in the sense that we would
mean (validates, performs properly cross-platform, maintainable, etc.).  It
might be perfectly serviceable for some one-off purpose or limited audience,
however.

If I were you, I might respond along the lines of "well, you *can* output 
Publisher content in a web format, but it might not be a good idea to create
and maintain a site using that tool, because ...".  In other words, a measured,
reasoned response, that doesn't dismiss the clear fact that the tool *can*
create a web page or site, but addresses instead the potential shortcomings of
doing so.

Greg Holmes