You recently made the excellent decision to hire By the Pixel to build a custom website. It boosts conversion rates and revenue without breaking the bank. You couldn’t be happier. Thanks to By the Pixel’s designers, it looks like a work of art, like it could be in a museum and admired for centuries.
A familiar analogy: software vs. cars
After several months, By the Pixel contacts you about the necessary updates on your website. You’re confused. It looks the same (still great), behaves the same (still great). You trust the experts at By the Pixel to maintain your digital property, but still, you might be wondering why.
Is this ongoing maintenance like taking your car to the mechanic?
The viral email
Way back in the 1990s, Bill Gates made some remarks that spawned a viral email that landed in everyone’s inbox with the subject “FWD:FWD:FWD: GM replies to Gates.”
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with the technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
Technology from this time, like floppy disks and dial-up modems, seems quaint, but at the time, many of us were giddy as we watched the exponential increase in the power of personal computers. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. Gates was right! Computers were getting better so quickly. Meanwhile, cars were pretty much the same.
Of course, the joke goes on.
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued the following press release -
If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics -
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
…
11. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
…
13. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car. [2]
A lot has changed in 30 years. The fictional GM press release is harder to relate to because hardware and software are more reliable. We all carry PCs in our pockets, but now we just call them "phones." We rely on them for practically everything. Software is embedded in all aspects of our lives. Today’s PCs crash a lot less than Windows 95 used to, and most new cars are run by computers and controlled by touchscreens.
You might think that the increase in software reliability is due to greater stability. While there is a more established foundation to computing, software and hardware are still in a constant state of flux.
It is this state of constant change that makes website maintenance so important.
Basic website maintenance is like car maintenance
If you want your website to continue to look and behave the same way that it does today, it will need periodic maintenance, just like your car needs oil changes to keep the engine from seizing up. Like a car, your website is at risk of becoming non-functional if regular maintenance is not performed.
Like cars, all modern websites have a lot of interconnected parts that keep them running. If these digital components cannot talk to each other, your website could stop functioning properly.
The problem is that the digital components that keep your website running can and will change. The code that runs modern websites has to change, for 2 major reasons:
- Computers continue to be improved, to get faster, to be more reliable, to have less bugs.
- Bad actors are always looking for security holes to exploit. You never know when a security hole might be discovered. These security holes expose your website to potential attacks by malicious hackers. Just as quickly as these security holes are discovered, software developers will work to patch them and keep our systems safe.
Regular website maintenance keeps systems working together
In order for your website to continue to perform at the high level that it does today, it must keep up with these continual changes. Your website exists within the greater ecosystem of the web, so if it doesn’t adapt to the changes, it will get left behind.
The developers at By the Pixel constantly monitor changes to the software that runs the websites they build, keeping them up to date with ongoing updates.
The world moves fast
In addition to essential maintenance, you should also consider more subjective updates. You might want a new model car with better features, or maybe just a new coat of paint. Consider changes that will keep your website looking and behaving fresh.
The way people use software is constantly changing. People expect software to be continuously improving. Keeping up with the trends in website design and user experience will reflect well on your business.
New technologies like AI are always being developed. Have you considered how AI could be used to improve your website? What will be the next technology that transforms the way we do business?
