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Margins on website development are shrinking

chrishardie.com

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Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#31

Post by taeric »

aharrison wrote: post #29
taeric wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, if you have the time and the room, it really does make a lot of sense to learn some items in care repair. Similarly, being a fully trained plumber is a daunting task. Fixing most problems in your bathroom is actually straight forward. Of course, some of this comes down to a value judgement. How much is it worth it to you, personally, to not have to mess with a broken toilette? :)

One thing I don't see people talk about enough in the context of home or car repair is liability. Not only do I not want to mess with a broken toilet, but if I screw up and flood my bathroom, it is my fault. If the plumber does it (less likely because they know what they are doing) then they are on the hook. For some things the cost of failure is low, but for many, especially when being paid a programmers salary, the…

Well, it really depends on the "fix". Most toilette problems can be fixed by a simple $5 part from the store. Hell, the last time a pilot light was out at my place, the plumber literally just scrubbed it with a wire brush. Just calling him out was $130. And no, I did not feel ripped off.

So, yes, there can be liability concerns. But there is also the line of thinking where "everyone should know how to cut the water to their house." Or "Everyone should know where the circuit box is to their house." etc.

Then there is the current reality. Getting stranded in a car accident is something that I would imagine is a lot lower in occurrence nowdays. I know how to change a tire, but I have to confess with cell phones being what they are, I am less concerned about my kids having this skill. I think they'll be ok.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#32

Post by kevincennis »

Before I got into web development, I spent 4 or 5 years as a recording engineer. And people were constantly predicting the "end of recording studios".

Certainly, there was a big shift. Pro Tools got cheap, companies like Behringer started making affordable large-diaphragm condenser mics that sort of looked like the nice ones. Line6 and Amplitube were making reasonably convincing guitar amp simulators. And some studios did close.

But there is absolutely still a market for for experienced recording engineers and big studios. The difference is that now there are DIY alternatives at the low end of the spectrum.

This article makes the mistake of predicting the end of web development, when in reality, all that's happening is that people with simpler needs are finally starting to see alternatives. Just need a basic home page? Go to Squarespace. Need a high-performance single-page web app? Still need a real developer. I don't see that changing soon.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#33

Post by bliker »

I can can recall numerous instances when I opposed to clients idea about the website. And most of the time it turned out I was right.

People will make sloppy decisions without good advice. I can buy a kitchen blender, assemble it, make it chop my vegies. But I will never know if it is any good. Unless it breaks.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#34

Post by gwgarry »

dworin wrote: post #30
omd wrote: post #24

I've had the same experience the past few years with car maintenance. - I can find any owner's manual online. - I can find detailed instructions for any type of repair in written form or in a Youtube video. - There are free online courses for anything from changing a tire to becoming a full-fledged mechanic. - I can find and order any part of my car at wholesale prices. - The same diagnostic software that repair shop…

That metaphor doesn't work for two reasons. First, over time a car has grown MORE complex, while the tools to create a website have grown LESS complex. At the same time, improved quality in engines, motor oil, and service technology has made routine maintenance not only easier, but also less expensive. Second, auto repair, like most skilled trades, is a great example where specialization of workers gets involved. It'…

- Websites have become much more complex. It just appears that they are simpler. WP makes it seem like nothing to press a button and upgrade. Behind the scenes thousands of lines of code are doing work. When those lines of code break and you come to me to fix them. Fuck you for thinking I am going to charge you $100. You are going to pay me $1000 or you can do it yourself.

- If you want to use a theme exactly as it is then fine use it exactly as it is. If you want me to make changes to it, fuck you for thinking I am going to do it for $100.

- Websites are complicated as ever (with tools that don't match their behind the scenes complexity), they appear to be much simpler because a lot of stupid people have spent thousands and thousands of hours providing services for free through modules and themes. But when those things break down or don't work the way you want them to, you will pay for my 15 years of experience or you can just do without.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#35

Post by Vivtek »

taeric wrote: post #31
aharrison wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I don't see people talk about enough in the context of home or car repair is liability. Not only do I not want to mess with a broken toilet, but if I screw up and flood my bathroom, it is my fault. If the plumber does it (less likely because they know what they are doing) then they are on the hook. For some things the cost of failure is low, but for many, especially when being paid a programmers salary, the…

Well, it really depends on the "fix". Most toilette problems can be fixed by a simple $5 part from the store. Hell, the last time a pilot light was out at my place, the plumber literally just scrubbed it with a wire brush. Just calling him out was $130. And no, I did not feel ripped off. So, yes, there can be liability concerns. But there is also the line of thinking where "everyone should know how to cut the water t…

Ha. Scrubbing with a wire brush is worth a dollar - knowing what to scrub with a wire brush was definitely worth $130, right?

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#36

Post by jiggy2011 »

dworin wrote: post #27

This happens in every services industry, not just website development. A combination of new technology, experience, and the dispersion of knowledge drive down costs and margins. Nobody hires accountants to do their adding and subtracting, but there's still demand for experts in new regulations or the eccentricities of the tax code. The same thing is happening in website development (and really, all sorts of technolog…

Very true, though I would suggest that if you live in a western economy and you intend to go low end you should make sure you are scaling in such a way that your marginal labour costs are insignificant. For example, rather than construct websites build tools for building/hosting websites.

It will be impossible to compete on price with elancers if you like eating food.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#38

Post by websitescenes »

I don't agree with this article. A canned solution can never compare to a custom built project. I think that building on top of things like Wordpress and Joomla is cool but not for a professional developer. Systems like that make the developer jump through so many conceptual hoops that only exist so that the lamen can use it. A developer is better of building a custom suite of tools that are upgraded through time and iteration.

I do agree that end users are utilizing more services online but I don't think that equates to the death of the developer. I actually think that this makes good developers worth more.

Re: Margins on website development are shrinking

#40

Post by te_chris »

kevincennis wrote: post #32

Before I got into web development, I spent 4 or 5 years as a recording engineer. And people were constantly predicting the "end of recording studios". Certainly, there was a big shift. Pro Tools got cheap, companies like Behringer started making affordable large-diaphragm condenser mics that sort of looked like the nice ones. Line6 and Amplitube were making reasonably convincing guitar amp simulators. And some studio…

Exactly this. I've made a similar transition and I'll say one thing: we web people at least don't have to deal with declining customer incomes. The worst part about being in the audio (live and recorded) biz was not only the bottom up effect, but the fact that the ROI of the average recording was plummeting (at least from where I was sitting, for the artists I was working with).

People/Clients still make money on the internet, even off $50-100k plus builds. $50k on a pro studio album would be damn near impossible to recoup these days, from what I've seen.

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