The Ultimate Irony

How ironic, that when it comes to creating and maintaining company web sites, the company owners must turn to outside sources for their site creation and maintenance. Many, if not most, of us got into web development because it enabled us to do things by ourselves, which we could never do before -- publish our work, connect with the world, build an identity and a presence in the space of a few months, if not weeks, rather than over the span of years. A lot of us got into the Web because it put power in our own hands -- and now a lot of us have betrayed the trust and the medium, by keeping that power to ourselves and not spreading it around to the people who need it most -- the folks whose web sites we built, and now maintain.

The World Wide Web, which should be accessible to all, is off-limits to many who hope to establish a web presence because they lack the necessary elements:

• development resources
• access to technology
• ongoing ability to maintain and improve
• affordable solutions to problems business owners of the past never had

To get into cyberspace most small and medium businesses are completely dependent on the abilities, whims, schedules and vision of others. They cannot take steps at a moment’s notice to effect a change to their site quickly and easily. In an age, when information should be served to people as quickly as (if not more quickly than) they can desire it, there is a seemingly insurmountable bottleneck preventing the information that longs to be out there, from getting where it should be: in front of the eyes like people such as you and me.

When we web developers keep the power to ourselves, we needlessly complicate the medium we love so much. We deny it growth, we deny it power, we deny it all the things we loved about it, from the start. What we need to keep in mind is that, once upon a time, we were starting out, too. We made programming mistakes, we learned hard lessons about what works, and what doesn't. The fact that the Web enabled us to learn in real-time, rather than in a year-long class, gave us energy and hope, and that translated into life. Now, we're so busy trying to control and maintain our beloved Web, that we've forgotten how to let go and let live -- and let develop. In our haste to protect what we've built, we've prevented its growth, and that's not good for anyone.

The web is is about empowerment - putting the power to communiate and effect change in the hands of the people. Not only the rich, not only the privileged, but all people.

And with a decent content management system, this is possible. Again, not only for the rich, not only for the privileged, but for all people who have the inclination to establish their presence on the web.

This little idea isn’t about change, it isn’t about enhancement, it’s about revolution.

It's about putting the web in the hands of the people who want to build it -- the very people who will see the web to the next level -- e-business, e-commerce, non-techie folks who want to be there -- not because it’s technically attractive, not because it’s a fad, but because they know it’s a good place to be.

A decent content management system narrows the gap between haves and have-nots

It enables everyone who uses it to be seen and heard as never before.

And that, to me, is what the Web is all about.

Content Management Systems -- good for business, good for customers, good for the web.