8 Ways to Sunday

I don’t remember how I first received the No Gas Day e-mail in 2004. According to Snopes.com, this call to action has been circulating in some form since 1999. This year, it’s more popular than ever. The problem with No Gas Day is that, good as it sounds, it won’t actually hurt the oil companies or drive down prices.

I understand the frustration people feel about high gas prices, and why an idea like No Gas Day is popular. Even when you adjust for inflation, gas prices are nearing an all-time high. Unfortunately, the concept behind No Gas Day is inherently flawed. Staging a one-day “gas out” just means that people will buy more gas the day before or after the protest. Since the supply and demand of the product (gasoline) isn’t actually affected, the price won’t change. No Gas Day might send a message, but it won’t make the dent in oil company profits that people believe it will. The only way to truly fix the problem is to make gasoline obsolete.

The sad fact is that our country’s economy is completely dependent on oil derivatives like gasoline and diesel. Without the oil industry’s products transportation in America would grind to a halt, crippling our economy. In a way, they have the ultimate product — we can’t not buy it. The oil companies know this, and price accordingly. They also know that the supply of their product is finite. I don’t doubt that the current high prices are part of a strategy to weather the shortages that are inevitably coming.

A single day of abstention won’t solve our problems with high gas prices, foreign oil dependency, or global warming. No single solution will. Electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, and ethanol will not save us. Oil has given us a long and happy spell of relatively cheap, plentiful energy. That’s going away, and it won’t be easy to replace. There is no magic bullet.

What we need is magic buckshot: a variety of simultaneously-deployed solutions that work together to meet our country’s ravenous energy appetite. We need a dedicated, multi-faceted research and development effort to make this happen. We need investment from both the public and private sector. And we need it now.

About a week ago, I launched a new weblog on the Zenscope Studio site. There are a lot of other Web developers and graphic designers with blogs, but most of them are writing posts that only interest other developers and designers. This is a great way to share knowledge and find collaborators, but it shuts out the client.

With Zenlog, I’m aiming for both audiences. There’s advanced tips and design analysis for fellow pros. There are also beginner tutorials and business-oriented articles for potential clients.

Client communication and education is sorely lacking in this field. Too many design professionals seem to look at their customers as a necessary evil. I’m doing my small part to change things.

Risky Business?

I’m not sure how this approach will work out. Business owners may not be interested enough to tune in, and I wouldn’t be surprised to get some blow-back from other developers and designers. My latest article — stating that the Web industry should “get over itself” when it comes to client relations — will probably raise some eyebrows (and tempers). But how else should I respond when the latest issue of A List Apart refers to clients as “schmucks with money” and “the well dressed nemesis”?

Sound Off

Love it or hate it, I’d like to know what you think. So check out Zenlog, and leave some comments telling me where you stand.

Be sure to subscribe to the new blog, and stay tuned for “How to Find and Hire a Great Designer” — coming soon.