[Sigia-l] unemployed?

[Ben Henick]

On Sun, 2 Jun 2002, Christopher Fahey [askrom] wrote:

> You seem a touch defensive. I don't think he meant to slander IA at all.
> He was praising B+A and lamenting the disintegration of the industry.
> Zeldman is, in general, "on our team". 

I second that - as someone who's had the pleasure of spending quality time 
with him IRL, who has written for A List Apart, intends to write more for 
that pub, and works closely with one of his proteges (cf. my .sig) - a 
protege, I might add, who is taking an increasing interest in IA and CHI 
as a direct result of activism practiced by members of this list.

I find it especially ironic that there is such vehemence when one 
considers that his current SO is a UMich LIS graduate.  He's probably more 
keenly aware of IA principles than a fair number of subscribers here - but 
unlike many here, IA and its cousins are not matters of passion for him 
(if my knowledge of him, and his body of work, serves as any sort of 
useful yardstick).

He is loved in the design community - someone I correspond with via IM on 
a daily basis is frequently told to bite her tongue; she finds the 
fanboying to be something just this side of pathetic.  (I tell her to bite 
her tongue not because she is wrong, but because there are better things 
to worry about.)

He loves the design community back.

But - what about the Web Standards Project?  What about his projects for 
New Riders?  Much of his work beyond his business centers on explaining 
the benefits of knowledge and good work habits - those things that 
ultimately make sites more usable - to designers who would otherwise be 
content to push pixels in a Dreamweaver-maintained bubble all day, and 
then pat themselves on the back during Happy Hour.

I am not normally one to defend someone personally, on a mailing list - it 
encourages poor netiquette - but I for one am sick and effing tired of the 
veiled hostility between graphics folks and IA's - it is unbecoming of a 
practitioner of either to take such an approach; it is also unprofessional 
IMO for there to be any contempt at all, since everyone's working toward 
the same goal:  usable sites that hold high value to all interested 
parties.  

I will return to lurking now.  Thanks for reading.


-- 
Ben Henick
Web Author At-Large              Managing Editor
http://www.io.com/persist1/      http://www.digital-web.com/
persist1 at io.com                  bmh at digital-web.com
--
"Are you pondering what I'm pondering, Pinky?"
"I think so, Brain, but... (snort) no, no, it's too stupid."
"We will disguise ourselves as a cow."
"Oh!" (giggles) "That was it exactly!"