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The_Internet_and_Globalization
| The Internet and Globalization
As you can probably tell, I enjoy computers. I find them
fascinating. My intrinsic thirst for knowledge has reached a
point where I now realize that I will never know everything
there is to know about them, nor understand everything I try to
learn about them.
Therefore, when I was approached by a client recently, to
upgrade their website, I soon regretted my usual agreement to do
so, assuming I could simply figure out how to implement any of
their required features, if need be.
These clients have an on-line estate agency, and list all their
properties on their web site, complete with photographs. They
wanted their site visitors to be able to search all their
listings, using pre selected parameters such as price range and
location in the Algarve.
I have looked at many such websites and figured I could tackle
the job. All I needed to do was learn the programming language
that these type of database driven sites use. Well, I purchased
the book and soon realized I was in over my head. Learning this
new language would have taken me months.
Rather than tell my client I could not do the job, I decided to
outsource the programming portion of the design job. I network
with many other computer related people in the Algarve, whose
services compliment mine, and have called on their specific
areas of expertise many times in the past. I put my programming
project out to bid, so to speak, with a few programmers I know
here in the Algarve and a few in the UK. I also put my project
on a worldwide programmers bulletin board, which I have never
done before, to see what kind of response I would get.
I was shocked by the results. My UK and Algarve friends quoted
me prices that were on the expensive side. Some of the quotes
that came in from around the world were one tenth of these
prices. I chose a programmer in Pakistan that had good reviews
from this bulletin board. I must say that I have never had such
a pleasant experience working with a programmer before. His work
was excellent, he was polite, enthusiastic and did not ask for
payment until the job was completely up and running and my
client was satisfied. His product was delivered to me as an
attachment to an email in seconds, once he finished the job.
My point? If you want a taste of what globalization is all
about, just visit the Internet. Information from around the
world is practically free, and services that can be delivered
electronically can be purchased from excellent worldwide sources
at a fraction of the local price.
Is this good or bad? Your opinion does not really matter because
it is already here and upon us.
About the author:
George McKee writes a twice-monthly, computer and Internet
related article in the Algarve Resident, a newspaper for the
English speaking residents of the Algarve region of Portugal. He
also operates, with his business partner, www.grafica-link.com,
a web hosting and design firm in southern Portugal. He can be
contacted at george@grafica-link.com or at his little corner of
the website http://www.grafica-link.com/bytedoctor.htm
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