I was just thinking about how the Internet is a great way for people to share ideas and in essence generate success for themselves. It’s always a compelling story when you read about people who have managed to conquer adversity and make a name for themselves and the Internet is a great medium for these “Rags to Riches” stories. I had a look on Wikipedia and came up with a list of Nouveau Riche folk; people who had nothing and are now successful. It includes people like Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley and Oprah, but it was interesting to note that aren’t any Internet entrepreneurs there.
Maybe I should do some research and update the page. But it’s a bit late in the evening at the moment, so maybe some other day.
I often think that the web’s accessibility is also it’s biggest weakness. It is all too easy for people who really have no business on the web or developing businesses for the web. People ride roughshod over best practice, privacy, standards and basic usability either for a cheap buck or an ego trip.
Maybe we need a License to Practice or central auditing agency. It’ll certainly free up some nice domains which are now taken by pointless sites.
(Btw, I often get a Page error when I submit a comment)
@Nathan: I’m afraid you can probably apply that principle to IT in general. Just yesterday I was speaking to someone who had done a 3 month programming course and was looking for a Developer role.
The great thing about the Web is that if you’re ready to learn, you can find a myriad of opportunities. I’m not saying it’s a sure road to success, but one thing is for sure. No one can claim they didn’t have a “chance” to succeed due to lack of opportunity.