From: David Cantrell Date: 13:57 on 26 Oct 2003 Subject: Hateful websites Web sites are software, right? Why do all car manufacturers' web sites SUCK so hard? Is there some law of nature that they have to be designed by crack-head donkey-botherers? All I want, please Mr. Volkswagen/Peugeot/Mercedes/whoever, is to find where my local dealer is. I don't want your flash intro, or your quirky tune, i'm not interested in diplomatic sales or your racing team or your apprenticeship scheme or wireframe drawings of your engines. I want to type my postcode and for your website to say "thankyou your marvellousness, please go to FOO, their address is BAR, the nearest station is BAZ, the number QUUX bus stops outside, and here's a map showing where the dealer is and your postcode". A map, with all the streets on, with their names, like what I can get at streetmap.co.uk, not just the main roads, no fancy 3d buildings drawn on it. Just a map. Which I can use to find the fucking place and spend vast quantities of money.
From: peter (Peter da Silva) Date: 15:01 on 26 Oct 2003 Subject: Re: Hateful websites > Why do all car manufacturers' web sites SUCK so hard? Is there some law > of nature that they have to be designed by crack-head donkey-botherers? s/car manufacturers' // All I want is a file/document/information/... I don't want the flashy intro. I don't want to know about your "solutions", or how much your other customers like you, or what articles/movies/TV shows your product has had a cameo in, or any of that other ad bumf... if I'm looking at your website you can assume I already know who you are. I don't want your representatives to call me three times after I download a demo. I don't want to plw through 6 layers of FAQ/troubleshooting/service wizard pages to get a phone number. When I'm looking for a product, it would be really helpful if you had a price list. Oh, and just because you don't support version 6 of your product any more... leave the damn support and downloads there. After all, I'm buying version 10 but in a couple of years when I need a driver I'm not going to want to buy version 14 just because version 10 isn't supported.
From: Nicholas Clark Date: 21:44 on 26 Oct 2003 Subject: Re: Hateful websites On Sun, Oct 26, 2003 at 09:01:09AM -0600, Peter da Silva wrote: > downloads there. After all, I'm buying version 10 but in a couple of years > when I need a driver I'm not going to want to buy version 14 just > because version 10 isn't supported. But of course they do (want you to buy ...) [I thought we'd done hates software companies a couple of weeks ago] Nicholas Clark
From: peter (Peter da Silva) Date: 22:06 on 26 Oct 2003 Subject: Re: Hateful websites > > downloads there. After all, I'm buying version 10 but in a couple of years > > when I need a driver I'm not going to want to buy version 14 just > > because version 10 isn't supported. > But of course they do (want you to buy ...) That tactic only works if you've got a local monopoly. Because when it comes time to upgrade to version 14 or buy from someone else, they better hope they don't have any competitors. > [I thought we'd done hates software companies a couple of weeks ago] Software, hardware, automobile, appliance (what I had to do to find docs on my Maytag dishwasher a few weeks ago didn't incline me to buy another), the whole nine yards. There's plenty of suck in any industry.
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