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Is this the internet’s most downloaded photo?

Danny BermantWebsite design

istockphoto businessmanCan anyone shed light on the identity of this man? He appears on literally thousands of websites, and I have even seen his face on ads on the Tube? Whoever he is, I am getting rather sick of him, and he puts me off looking at any website that he appears on. 

You can download him in dozens of different poses on istockphoto.com, a website that has revolutionised the web by enabling web designers to download images costing as little as £1-2 for their websites. Previously they had to pay upwards of £75 for a photo, and many web designers simply copied photos illegally from elsewhere rather than pay the price. But with low cost photos, there has also been a price to pay. Such has been the popularity of istockphoto that some photos have become ubiquitous and many websites have been cheapened in the process.

Not only do frequently used stock photos look cheesy and fake, but they make your entire site look like it has recycled content. One writer has described stock photos as being “the new clipart”.

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Facebook has stopped supporting IE6, maybe it’s time you followed their example?

Danny BermantBrowsers

Facebook have just announced they are going to stop supporting Internet Explorer 6. What about you? Do you intend to continue supporting it?

IE6 may only have 5% of the market, but a lot of those users are concentrated in the business sector where many corporate IT departments will only support IE6. (the same applies for UK Government departments).

And therein lies a dilemma. Stop supporting IE6 and you lose out on potential business customers. Continue to support IE6 and you may be incurring significant web development costs just to make your website accessible to a small percentage of your users. 

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Be wary of any SEO company that guarantees you a #1 placement on Google

Danny BermantSEO

One of my clients this morning forwarded me an email that they received from iBusiness Promotions guaranteeing them a #1 placement on Google. Their website states that:

"we guarantee that your website will be found in the regular (unpaid) top 10 results on Google for the keywords of your choice. No catch, no strings attached"

  • Rule No.1: No one can guarantee you a #1 position on Google. Google themselves make this clear in their own guidelines.
  • Rule No.2: Don’t buy from anyone who promotes their services via an unsolicited email. Spam is unethical as well as illegal. Would you trust a company to promote who uses unethical business practices to promote your website?
  • Rule No.3: This is probably the most important rule of all. Getting to the first page of Google doesn’t mean your website will get more visitors of even more business.
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Using my iPhone in Israel

Danny BermantiPhone / iPad

I have taken my iPhone abroad for the first time and have made a few observations.

  1. When you arrive in a new country, you get a text message from O2 warning you to switch off data roaming if you want to avoid high roaming charges. I don’t know if this warning is something they were forced to do, but it’s a good idea.Lord knows how many people forget to switch off roaming.
  2. The moment you enter the passenger terminal of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, you get free wifi access. This is quite unlike the rip-off BT Openworld you’re forced to pay for when using Heathrow or Gatwick.
  3. I try and avoid making phone calls on my mobile whilst abroad, but as I use the iPhone for everything other than phone calls, I hardly notice the difference. 
  4. I can’t use any of the roaming apps such as Google Maps or the Compass, but this is more than compensated for by the fact that you can pick up wifi just about everywhere. And it’s usually a lot faster than the patchy 3G access you get in England. Just the other day, I took a bus through the centre of Jerusalem and was able to pick up wifi hotspots throughout the journey.

Spending time in Israel makes you realise just how backward the UK is when it comes to the internet. 

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iPhone 4 first impressions. If you’re thinking of upgrading, don’t bother.

Danny BermantiPhone / iPad

iPhone 4Carphone Warehouse called me out of the blue on Thursday. My contract was up for renewal. Would I like a new iPhone 4 they asked? Who can say no to a new iPhone? Especially when it’s costing you only £29 to upgrade and you pay the same monthly fee as before.

Well, I received my new phone just 24 hours after the call, and four days later, the novelty has already worn off. Firstly, I don’t care for the new design. I liked the rounded design of the old phone, whereas the new flat backed design looks old fashioned. It’s how I would expect an early version of the phone to look, not the latest version. Secondly the battery life (or lack of it) as almost as bad as the old phone. Fortunately for me, I carry a Mili recharger with me wherever I go.

And what do I like about it? Well I like the front facing camera (unfortunately I know only one other person who has both the iPhone 4 and wifi that are necessary for videophone calls). I like the camera flash, and the sound quality is noticeably better.

I am also benefiting from the fact that I can enjoy all sorts of benefits denied to me on the iPhone 3G such as augmented reality, and the ability to shoot movies. I have also been able to enjoy the benefits of OS4 (which I was never able to successfully install on my old phone) such as the ability to run multiple apps and group apps in folders.

But my overall impression? I would say that if you’re running an iPhone 3GS, there’s not enough new features to merit upgrading to the iPhone 4. Hold out for the next version of the iPhone.

 

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