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"Website like Amazon"

elance.com

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Re: "Website like Amazon"

#13

Post by danalmeida »

grecy wrote: post #5

I think this highlights the interesting lack of fundamental understanding by the general public about software and how complex and expensive it is. Intuitively people understand things like cars and laptops are expensive, time consuming and difficult to build requiring complex tools and machinery. This is not the case with software, where we see time and time again requests like "same as Facebook..." or "Same as Amaz…

Design has always existed in this sort of gray area, especially with the introduction of Photoshop and desktop computers. Many people think graphic design is as simple as selecting a font and picking some colors to go with it.

I doubt software/web development will ever get past the same hurdle in the minds of the general public.

Re: "Website like Amazon"

#16

Post by niggler »

grecy wrote: post #5

I think this highlights the interesting lack of fundamental understanding by the general public about software and how complex and expensive it is. Intuitively people understand things like cars and laptops are expensive, time consuming and difficult to build requiring complex tools and machinery. This is not the case with software, where we see time and time again requests like "same as Facebook..." or "Same as Amaz…

"the interesting lack of fundamental understanding by the general public about software and how complex and expensive it is."

The reason why many people have a good understanding of other complex stuff, like a car, is because they are able to tinker and service it. You can't tinker with the internals of Amazon.com. Without a frame of reference, there's no way to know how complex a system is.

Re: "Website like Amazon"

#17

Post by tatsuke95 »

grecy wrote: post #5

I think this highlights the interesting lack of fundamental understanding by the general public about software and how complex and expensive it is. Intuitively people understand things like cars and laptops are expensive, time consuming and difficult to build requiring complex tools and machinery. This is not the case with software, where we see time and time again requests like "same as Facebook..." or "Same as Amaz…

I've done my share of software developer hiring. And, I've had my share of sticker shock. What always makes it a little more palatable is seeing the number of (man)hours a project will take. People understand wages, and can also easily mentally compare them. When I see what you're making per hour, and it isn't gut-wrenching, it's easier to swallow.

Of course, you'll still have to deal with idiots who can't understand why it won't be done in an afternoon.

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