Fantastic web design book offer from Sitepoint
Update: the Sitepoint bushfire fundraiser sale is over, and the most recent publicised figure was $180,000 – well in excess of the $50,000 goal they set. I myself have bought ten books, ranging from basic refresher courses to scary server stuff, to keep me busy well into the spring. Well done to Sitepoint and to everyone who pitched in.
http://5for1.aws.sitepoint.com/
I’m quite saddened, though, by the number of selfish and bitchy comments on Sitepoint’s site criticising them for daring to end the sale on schedule and on Australian local time. Over two hundred people have lost their lives, and hundreds more have lost everything but the clothes on their backs, and this sale was to help them and not Sitepoint; but all some people care about is the fact that the world doesn’t revolve around them.
If you’re still keen to make a contribution (even if you don’t get a chance to stamp your feet in public about the books you feel you’re entitled to because you’re American or British), please don’t hesitate to donate directly to the Australian Red Cross.
Superb. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I’ve just bought my five. A bunch of things that were already on my to-learn list anyway.
The Australian Red Cross will help those affected. Now, is there any way of giving to a charity who will hunt down and punish the arsonists?
Squander Two
10 February 2009 at 5:27 pm
[...] Tips from Idea15 Web Design [...]
SitePoint » $70,000 USD in the bag with two days to go – help us hit $100,000 USD!
11 February 2009 at 1:07 pm
Wow. I didn’t think I sounded hostile in my post. Maybe you weren’t hostile when you wrote your comment. Sounds like it.
First, yes it was a shameless plug. Because I had ideas that were too long to post there and I deserve to be heard as much as you or anyone. Hey, it happens (as you so kindly inserted your own website address in your comment)!
Are you under the impression these complaining customers don’t give a rat’s ass about the wildfires or helping those involved? If you do, shame on you. This has nothing to do with the wildfires or that people don’t want to donate money for nothing. Yes, you can make the argument some people will not donate voluntarily unless they receive something in return. I made the point in an earlier comment and it is perfectly logical.
However, to insist that people are so selfish as to think the good employees of Sitepoint should ride out the fires to suit us Americans and Britains, are you freaking serious? First, don’t think for one second that someone had to log onto Sitepoint and manually end the contest (it is, after all, a website, in part, about programming). Second, Sitepoint continues to run, as far as I know, as normal. At least, I’ve seen new articles and content appearing on a daily basis. Am I saying they are not affected in any way, shape or form? No. But obviously they are not sitting in smoke-filled rooms.
This post was about what should and shouldn’t be done in a similar situation. Yes, the customer is not always right. However, there are ways to come to satisfactory mediums. It will cost Sitepoint very little to extend the contest. Obviously many are still interested in getting in on the deal. And the true victims of the fires reap the rewards. And everone’s at fault. Sitepoint should’ve specifically stated the deadline for the contest. Customers are at fault for procrastinating. By the way, I know how long it would’ve taken to make my purchase. I did so yesterday morning. I am not the customer that missed out.
Or perhaps you just didn’t read my post. If so, why the hell did you post this ridiculous comment?
Tim Trice
13 February 2009 at 6:29 pm
The problem with your post is that you are applying the rules of a “normal” customer service situation to something that was never intended to be one. It’s a valid argument but not for this case. People are sick, people are confused, and people are grieving. But they’re not sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, they’re giving away their IP because ebooks are a hell of a lot more than some have now. To criticise Sitepoint for failing to respond like a Fortune 500 company during days where their normal rules of both business and personal interaction were suspended amounts to kicking a man while he’s down.
And I am freaking serious about the cultural insensitivity which caused people (not yourself, but some other posters) to just assume that the sale was adjusted to their own time zone and not to the time zone where it actually happened. Sit back for a minute and think about the cultural isolation and selfishness it takes to even presume that. Let’s face it, some of these people probably could not find Australia on a map.
As I’ve posted on the Sitepoint site, there is a very sad irony when people lose their lives because they did not have the gift of a few seconds to escape their homes, and in response people attack the charity fundraiser because they did not have three *days* warning to purchase a book. Step back and have a sense of perspective, please.
idea15
13 February 2009 at 6:41 pm
My sense of perspective is solely on those who this affects most. Sitepoint is at an advantage..estimated to have more than tripled their original goal of $50,000 (which they posted is US dollars, btw). Now, they can increase that even further. $150,000 plus in three days is outstanding. Now you have the weekend coming up where people will have plenty of time to search and find out about this sale. What is the harm in extending it?
When I first read some of the original comments my reaction was like yours. It did sound very selfish. But, come on. Is it unreasonable to ask Sitepoint for an extension? Who cares if some of the posters are selfish. C’est la vie! What better way to win than to take THEIR money and give it to those who need it?
timtrice
13 February 2009 at 6:47 pm
Yes, it is unreasonable to ask Sitepoint for an extension. You cannot criticise them in one breath for failing to act like a fully functional commercial enterprise, and then criticise them in the next breath because they are acting like one. What is the harm of extending it, you ask? You’re a business owner, so you should know the answer to that. Somebody has to respond to all of those unhappy customers who didn’t get their downloads in 0.3 seconds. And that someone has to get paid. How can he get paid if the company gives away their product indefinitely? How will we be able to enjoy Sitepoint titles yet unwritten if there is no money with which to pay authors or order new print runs? What author is going to want to write new titles for Sitepoint now, knowing that they’ve just taken at least a four month bath on royalties? And how will Sitepoint make money in the next few weeks, having given away $200k of titles without password protection which will no doubt circulate to non-paying audiences?
At some point the line has to be drawn and Sitepoint has to return to being a for-profit commercial enterprise. That’s the heartache of running a business, fire or not.
idea15
13 February 2009 at 6:55 pm
I’m with Heather on this. I don’t think your comment at Sitepoint was one of the more selfish ones, Tim, but you’re still basically wrong.
> It will cost Sitepoint very little to extend the contest.
No, the special offer (contest? What contest?) costs them a huge amount. You’re making the age-old mistake of assuming that a product’s cost is all about the cost of the stuff it’s made out of and so PDF’s are practically free. As Heather’s pointed out, the significant costs lie in things like paying the authors and the fact that someone who’s got four of your books for free isn’t then going to buy them. This offer will have cost Sitepoint a small fortune.
And can we even imagine a US company getting stick for not mentioning that they run on US time?
Let’s just summarise this. Sitepoint decided to raise $50K for a worthy cause — by sacrificing all their profits for three days and, due to the knock-on effects, a big chunk of their profits for some time to come. They succeeded far beyond their expectations and gave about $150K to the cause — which, of course, means they’re sacrificing even more of their profits than expected. And now, for their trouble, they’re getting comments like this one:
And you, Tim, think they should spend even more money on accommodating such people? I can’t begin to think why.
Squander Two
14 February 2009 at 2:23 pm
I missed out on this offer as well but i don’t hold any hard feelings.
There was an explanation posted which shows why they had to close it early and that it was out of their hands. Perhaps they should have explained this isoon which might have prevented much of the anger we’re now seeing.
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/02/13/the-5-for-1-book-sale-has-finished-we-smashed-our-usd-50k-target/#comment-877997
Michelle
16 February 2009 at 10:05 am
I can’t deny that I’m enjoying watching the petty indignation on display from people in the US who still refuse to acknowledge that the world is not centred in their particular time zone. I experienced the consequences of this myself when I moved from the US to the UK and found that a lot of my US acccount holders would simply not allow me to update my address or phone number, as their systems did not permit anything but a US-style address. Not to mention that insanity-inducing call I had to make to the states to sort out a billing issue. “What country you be callin’ from?” “The UK.” “What country that?” And I’ve also had instances of trying to order something from a US site, only to have to leave at checkout because even foreign addresses were required to have a “State” field selected, which gets your card rejected during the billing process.
If these web professionals don’t like the way the shoe feels when it’s on the other foot, they should remember that when they’re writing data architecture, rather than crying foul at being reminded that they are just 5% of the world’s population.
idea15
16 February 2009 at 12:11 pm