That being said, I have noticed a dramatic slowdown of my DSL recently which I have had since 2000. My guess is they are trying to smoke me out so I’ll upgrade to their High Speed or Roadrunner, or whatever it is. Well I, like you, feel the need to remain honest as a web professional, so I refuse to give in.

Not only did I get DSL from Verizon back in the go-go 90s, I was one of the brave few who got ISDN. That was 2 months of my life I will never get back.

Ouch! You said ISDN.

“sometimes the bits of data get stuck”

Technology marches on.

They actually said this!

Then I move to Ohio..and Time Warner….internet is working…phone is not….

What gets me the most is that the customer service reps never have a clue, and on several occasions I’ve experienced, lie to me. I was owed a refund from Comcast, and after speaking with several people, asking WHERE my refund was, I finally asked to speak with a manager. My only request was that they email me with a statement that explained how much my refund was and when the refund would be coming. Apparently, they can’t do that…

So I can sum it up like this: big companies do not like to be held accountable and customer service reps aren’t trained well enough to know what you’re talking about. Is your internet service down? Here, let me do something that I’ve been taught works….why? oh….I don’t know….it’s worked before. When will your service be back up? “We’re working on the problem” and “No, we can’t give you an ETA on that”

I hesitate saying it out loud but I’ve had pretty good luck with Time Warner Road Runner for the last few years on the upper West side.

Thank you for sharing your feelings here. I sometimes write about experiences in New York City because this is where I live. I don’t write about experiences in your city because I don’t live there. If you want more people to know what’s going on where you live, write about it on your website. I’d look forward to reading it.

As for the subject of my post, I wasn’t complaining about having slow access, I was marveling at the paradox that technology is beholden to infrastructure. I was also pointing out that competency declines when companies enjoy near-monopolies over a given technology or category. (Not that that’s news, and not that it’s limited to companies. When governments exert undue control, they too develop tragicomic incompetence.)

Although you assume the contrary, I have friends and colleagues all over the world. A List Apart has an international readership and publishes authors from around the globe. An Event Apart’s attendees come from all over; not all our speakers are American, although most are, because our events have so far been held in this country.

It sounds like you live in a dangerous place. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your neighbors. I wish you safety, health, peace, and prosperity.

Nice post though!

I come from an Eastern European country which has experienced war at the end of the 20th century. I know what it feels like to run into the basement because of aerial bombardments and what it means to wait for bread under sniper fire. Maybe that’s the reason why I find your posts about hearing police sirens in NYC frightening while your dog is sleeping annoying.

Yet, I bought the first edition of your Web standards book (at a very high price, where I live in) and implemented it in my work. It has paid off, and sometimes, it was a stumbling stone because of managers and marketing (I can bet that the same line of thinking you’re being confronted with even today). I love standards. I love the Web.

Yet, as much as you brag about women being NOT included into Web design business, you NEVER EVER got out of the US frame. There was not a single post about problems web developers and designers are facing in the world outside the US. Everything is so much about content, solidarity and genuine content, yet all of that never gets out of US state borders.

It is a closed world. And I will be completely honest with you: I resent that. I follow your “web-standards evangelism”, yet I am excluded from it, like millions out there are, who don’t happen to own an US passport.

I don’t own a credit card, yet I WILL buy the expensive english-bookstore second edition of your book, although I downloaded a pirated version of it. Because I believe in everything that you have put in the making of this book.

Your bragging about how it is the right thing to publish original content, not being the next Web 2.0 thing is comparable to me bragging about how there are not ANY persons whatsoever on your blog, flickr list etc. that are not outside the US. Sorry Jeff, I respect you VERY much, but I did NOT see any event apart in Europe recently. Picture this: “to gain a deeper understanding of web standards and emerging best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and new directions. Join the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.”

Well, according to you, an Event Apart REALLY IS an Event Apart. It boils down to Web standards people who happen to have US citizenship. And the show goes around the US. Well if the Web is supposed to be accessible to everyone (as you tell in your book AND as I tell people around me, believing in a TRULY universal Web), it should include everyone. But it does NOT. Like EVERY Web 2.0 service against which you wrote, against every proprietary browser-rendering technology you wrote, the Web should be accessioble to everyone. Yet every single thing that you write about includes the topics that revolve EXCLUSIVELY around US firms, US Web authors, US conferences and so on.

My point is: Why bother to talk about universality of the Web and promote Web standards if it is just a US thing? You can brag all you want about examples from here and there but the fact is that you are completely unaware of what is happening outside this “so heroic” US web-standards arena.

I am sad. I am disappointed. Yet, I will buy your and a load of other books to learn from. And I won’t just download and print the pirated versions, although the prices for them here are inhuman, although I am excluded from the possiblity of paying with a credit card, although the discussion about these crucial Web subjects is going on, I won’t participate, because no one cares. All the references are geared toward the exclusively US “event apart” events etc.

A 32 KB DSL connection is a problem??!? How about being on a standard modem connection and pushing Web standards in spite of being rejected by a lot of firms who pay well, here, in the non-US?

Dear mr. Zeldman, I respect you, and I thank you for sharing the knowledge, but my disappointment has surpassed my enthusiasm. Pushing out Web standards in a poor, counter-personnel mined country while paying outrageous sums to learn about standards, in spite of being able to download pirated versions (at slower and FAR more costly speeds than your oh-so-poor-me post brags about), but sticking to morale sucks royally.

I will buy your 2nd edition book. But. I will never EVER read your blog again. Or look up if there are some new books by you. I am so bitter. Please don’t write about your fears in NYC while hearing sirens anymore. There are a lot of us who take for granted much more worse than that, and we don’t even brag about DSL connections and such. I would give my right arm to have a connection like yours, so much clients unaware about Web standards etc etc.

Be decent, at least. PLEASE. There in fact IS a world outside your US sphere. Yes, really, there is.

And no, I do NOT hate you, your country or anything for that matter. I just wish to point out that you are no better than people about whom you think that they care about money only and not web standards, quality content etc. You don’t care about any of that outside your narrow life circle anyway.

Sirens, NYC, oh, cruel world.

Flattened houses, minefields, web standards, oh cruel world.

Farewell, Mr. Zeldman.