I have recently re-discovered the Mercury Drug website (mercurydrug.com) . . . this was one of the first few websites I created way back 1998-ish – and I was surprised that the original layout down to the graphical elements is still in use today. This is just so mind-boggling to me – this is not in any sense of the word a small business, or a one-man garage operation . . . this is the Philippines’ biggest and most popular drugstore we are talking about. I think I should be flattered that they are still essentially using the same template and layout for more than a decade now but I’m actually embarrassed by it — they should really hire somebody to do the deed or I will be forced to call them and offer my services for free. I mean, they are still using tables for crying out loud!
Looking at the source code, I can definitely say that they have made very minor modifications . . . I can still see my work in there, at times – just being commented out. How could a corporation of this size be so neglectful of their website? I’m sure cost is not the problem here as I have mentioned, they are one of the biggest corporations in the Philippines and web design/development isn’t really expensive in Manila — I heard you can get a website done for less than Php2,500 there (approx. $50) so I can’t really see why this hasn’t been done apart from red tape, corporate politics and probably an owner/CEO who just doesn’t understand the technology at all to take advantage of it.
Tags: #mercurydrug
