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I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

idiallo.com

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Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#411

Post by rangibaby »

ceejayoz wrote: post #356
chaiii wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it's sustainable though. If you keep raising the prices and people buy what you're selling, and then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for.

> then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for Will they? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/2... > Nordstrom is selling “mud-stained” jeans to the tune of $425. They’re called the “Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans” and come with some sort of fake mud substance caked all over them. (It’s not clear what that substance is.) The knees, pockets and crotch of the jeans…

or White Nike AF1s. People are obsessed with keeping theirs looking perfectly new. Dr Dre famously claims to never wear a pair more than once.

The other day I saw Nike started selling dirty looking ones new. There truly is something for everyone!

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#412

Post by wyclif »

ceejayoz wrote: post #356
chaiii wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if it's sustainable though. If you keep raising the prices and people buy what you're selling, and then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for.

> then eventually realize the quality isn't up to par of what they're paying for Will they? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/04/2... > Nordstrom is selling “mud-stained” jeans to the tune of $425. They’re called the “Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans” and come with some sort of fake mud substance caked all over them. (It’s not clear what that substance is.) The knees, pockets and crotch of the jeans…

This is much like the relic electric guitar market. Fender Custom Shop sells guitars for a premium that look like they've been dragged behind a truck (distressed nitrocellulose finishes, scratches, dings, hardware patina, sanded necks, &c.)

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#413

Post by regularfry »

n-exploit wrote: post #386
Bokanovsky wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a classic example of a Veblen good [1]. "Veblen goods are types of luxury goods for which the quantity demanded increases as the price increases, an apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve. Some goods become more desirable because of their high prices." The suits are expensive, so they must be good. It's also a status signal to others that you can afford such g…

As the Director of Technology at a non-profit organization, how am I supposed to staff software engineering resources when these pricing practices like these are commonplace in the for-profit world? How am I supposed to make an argument to the board that a single technology staff member, let alone a working team, is 5x-10x more valuable than the rest of the workforce? I'm going to admit it - it's hard to see stuff li…

If your tech function is being judged by cost, rather than value, you're always going to have problems.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#414

Post by hackerbabz »

dymk wrote: post #180
gk1 wrote: post #71

Great illustration of why hourly billing makes no sense, for either side. In this case, as usual, the amount of hours "spent" on the project has little to do with actual value provided. From the contractor's side, he's excited about getting 12x the original quote, instead of realizing he's been severely undercharging for his work and could've been earning 10x or more all this time. I wonder if the author will start c…

I'm gonna disagree that hourly billing makes no sense for the contractor. He clearly just didn't charge enough per hour; $75/hour is way too low for contract work, and his $21k could have been $56k at $200/hour. What if the project was billed at a fixed cost, he negotiated $21k, but the project took a year to complete because the company moved so slowly? That'd be a terrible salary. He'd have to quit and somehow bill…

There's no reason he should have charged more. The website was not worth $21,000 to the employer. They made a mistake and threw away money.

If he had tried to quote $21,000, he would have gotten thrown out the door.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#415

Post by sneak »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #165
_bxg1 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the relevance of that Wikipedia article

That nerve is a popular example of an optimization process that produced a local maximum which is highly sub-optimal. For various evolutionary reasons, a nerve routing that was direct and sensible when the aorta passed to, say, the gills of a fish, now makes a silly, circuitous route in modern mammals from the brain, down under the aorta near the heart, and back up into the neck...close to the brain. Natural selectio…

Wow, that’s a great explanation, and I hadn’t even thought of it that way, myself.

My take was a much simpler “just because there is a better way that exists doesn’t make it practically relevant, because entrenched tradition is usually more popular/widespread than efficiency”... but your boiling the frog idea shows even better how the mess comes about in the first place.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#416

Post by ccozan »

isostatic wrote: post #403
nitrogen wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was shopping for flights last Christmas and got price X on every site. I started checking out and the price became X+50. I got angry and left and came back later to find the price, on all sites, was X+80. Since I had no choice but to travel I paid X+80. Then for kicks and self torture I checked the price on my Android phone and it was still around X.

Jacking up prices when revisiting the site from the same browser is a separate thing. It’s there to encourage you to buy ASAP as prices appear to be increasing rapidly.

That's why I always start with an incognito tab and let FF do sime magic with the fingerprinting.

I get most honest prices.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#417

Post by owaty »

n-exploit wrote: post #386
Bokanovsky wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a classic example of a Veblen good [1]. "Veblen goods are types of luxury goods for which the quantity demanded increases as the price increases, an apparent contradiction of the law of demand, resulting in an upward-sloping demand curve. Some goods become more desirable because of their high prices." The suits are expensive, so they must be good. It's also a status signal to others that you can afford such g…

As the Director of Technology at a non-profit organization, how am I supposed to staff software engineering resources when these pricing practices like these are commonplace in the for-profit world? How am I supposed to make an argument to the board that a single technology staff member, let alone a working team, is 5x-10x more valuable than the rest of the workforce? I'm going to admit it - it's hard to see stuff li…

Don't compete on the price then. Compete on something else, like the working conditions.

The author describes how they had to drive 50 miles every day, use the corporate laptop (or install shady software on their own one), not get a response for many days. Basically, their rate (and the total cost) covers not just the work they do, but all the frustration that comes with the work.

Now, if you treat your staff better than that — remove all the hurdles, answer their emails promptly etc. ­— then there will be many talented people who'd prefer it over a meaningless-but-highly-paid alternative.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#418

Post by [deleted] »

maxxxxx wrote: post #93
linuxftw wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This describes >80% of engineering departments at past large firms where I've worked. Ironically, these people are 'architects' and get paid handsomely.

The IT department in my company is full of “senior architects” and “principal architects” who are very pleasant talkers but don’t do anything from what I can tell. They have a ton of stories how they helped others but whenever I needed something from them nothing ever happened besides a lot of meetings.

[deleted]

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#419

Post by thearch »

webninja wrote: post #341
mprev wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh, but who wants to do nothing all day? You get one life; why waste your days?

Having nothing to do but being forced to look busy is a special kind of hell.

I work in energy trading, and understimulated traders over low-season periods like Summer are extremely dangerous.

So dangerous that a lot of events take place in Q2 and Q3 to emphasize networking over mindless bored trading.

Re: I Charged $18k for a Static HTML Page

#420

Post by thearch »

osrec wrote: post #359
chii wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd assume you'd just double dip your time and work on something personal while doing nothing at work...

In my experience, most people just browse the internet.

It's very hard to summon the focus you need while playing fake busy.
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