Away with web careers?

Heya gang,

I am kind of new to these lists, so forgive any ignorant comments I may 
happen to make.
Nuff said, I enjoy reading all these posts from various webmasters etc.

Regarding the point of the web designer's role becoming somewhat diminished 
due to Frontpage and the like, I have only to say this:-

I am glad that such things are being brought out, and that people are having 
a go themselves. Quite simply the problem here in the UK is that there is not 
enough knowedge about the Internet or it's possibilities. Add to this the 
fact that when these people actually fumble and make their attempts using 
these tools, it will be far easier to impress them with your design skills 
and expertise.

Case: Ezio Merchandise
A rather good band named Ezio has a good following, but not enough to warrant 
full record deals etc. and I suggested to the merchandising head that they 
sell directly to the fans over the Internet, came up with a plan for them to 
use the URL on all promo materials etc. and offered to do the site. Being new 
to the industry I offered to do this for free, for the references, and to 
actually get in with the band.
They took all my suggestions, bar the web design. "Oh, one of our ladies is 
learning frontpage" they said and gave me lots of free CD's, tickets etc. 
WHen I looked at the site, she had apparently spent weeks and weeks on it, 
there were mispelled tags all over the page, and it was only one page. I went 
back and said "look man, split the page up into sections, use navigational 
frames perhaps and put some photos of the merchandise in so people can 
actually look before they buy". She sighed "How the F*** am I supposed to do 
that?". She was rather happy to let me do it, and do it well for her.

Perhaps I went on a little too long there, but I must also stress that the 
computing departments consider their job to be wepages, however, they are so 
stressed that they can't afford time, or money to put people on courses, and 
will gladly outsource what seems to be cheap in comparison to other media. In 
fact one of the problems may be that we aren't charging people ENOUGH to be 
taken seriously! That may sound crude, but the best selling brands tend to be 
the most expensive.
When you offer a media solution that costs less than the MD pays to have his 
lawn mowed, is it any wonder the service is not regarded as serious?

Anyway, I think I have lacked focus and clarity, but I hope I was of some 
help.

Thanks for reading.

Mr.Will

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