Tibaldo: WYSIWYG - what you see is what you (must) get

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

ARE YOU getting the right merchandize or services that you have asked for? Are you satisfied with what you have received? In most of the things that we are asking, we always demand for the best in terms of delivery, results, kind, impact and after effect. On second thought, are we being realistic?

As a neophyte cameraman many years ago, one of my frustrations was to be able to get the right printed image that I wanted whenever I click the shutter of my camera. I came to learn that professionals use a camera called the single lens reflex that gives the photographer the closest possible to what was viewed in the camera's viewfinder. They say that through the SLR camera, what you see is what you get since the lensman can actually view through the same lens from which the image is recorded from.

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In more recent years, Microsoft's Bill Gates released his company's innovative and widely accepted desktop publishing systems like the use of MS Word, MS Publisher and other pioneering computer programs that practically phased out many old school methods such as the use of typewriters, offset printing, cut and paste lay outing.

These modern day innovations opened up new applications that were meant to make things a lot easier in all fields from domestic chores to the delivery of varied services. In the field of marketing and promotion where media plays a vital role, a lot of deception occurs with what is shown as a model product and what is actually sold and distributed as consumer product. It is therefore not enough to rely on visual specifications alone especially when a product being marketed has a lot of detailed functions that are not presented and specified in the advertisements.

When I went to a barber shop to have my regular hair cut, I have to specify that it should be a crew cut conforming to dos-quatro (2:4) and not just a high cut which is very common as a cadet's acceptable hair style.

'''False advertising''' or '''deceptive advertising''' is the use of false or misleading statements in any form of promotion. These advertising has the potential to persuade people into commercial transactions that they might otherwise avoid, many governments around the world use regulations to control false, deceptive or misleading advertising. '''Truth in labeling refers to essentially the same concept, that customers have the right to know what they are buying, and that all necessary information should be on the label.

Just like in the garden of Eden, false advertising is likened to the serpent deceiving consumers in ways that are not ideal or lawful. Hence, we should always be vigilant in our purchases, deals and transactions because a well informed consumer is a better empowered consumer.