Anyone have any experience, either directly or anecdotally, with DreamHost, the large web hosting service?
They caught my eye with this:
Web hosting provider DreamHost has recently given its customers the rather unusual advice of choosing Google’s Gmail over its own email service, telling them that “it’s something Google … can do better.”
…
“Just over HALF of all the support requests we get are about email. Everything else we offer, combined, doesn’t add up to the amount of trouble, expense, use, and effort that goes into ’simple’ old email. And that’s kind of funny, because as far as I can tell, almost nobody CHOOSES a web host based on their email features[.]
That’s certainly true for me and my blog.
In any case, what a refreshing Atlas Shrugged sort of incident this is. Part of being a “good” (i.e., successful) capitalist is being a “good” (i.e., honest and truthful) capitalist: If you can’t provide a service well, then don’t provide it — and certainly don’t lie about it. That way ruin lies — at least in the long run.
How much of the contempt for capitalism is, I wonder, not based on any evidence of the free market’s “fraud, deceit and ruthlessness” but simple projection by its opponents, who are merely afraid that businesspeople are — well, are just like them?
4 responses so far ↓
Link Chuck // Jun 8, 2008 at 11:04 am
I've used Dreamhost for about six years. They were outstanding, but they've had some growth issues that would put them at merely good. I don't use their new install of Gmail, but have used Gmail to access my Dreamhost e-mail box for about six months.
Link dolphin // Jun 8, 2008 at 11:52 am
I've used Dreamhost for some clients in the past, and I'd happily recommend them. The only thing I'd note is that, for a simple blog, they're kinda pricey (unless you want to lock yourself into a 5 or 10 year plan, in which case, they're a steal). For what they offer, their prices are actually great, but unless you're planning on converting this to a hosted video blog and multiplying your readership 10x, you'd be paying for more space and bandwidth than you need.
Link windypundit // Jun 8, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I'm hosting on DowntownHost right now and it's working out well, but I'm also hosting my other sites and writing some PHP code, so they're probably overkill for you. HostingMatters has a pretty good reputation as well but is more costly (or gives you less resources) but is probably more reliable.
I've found the information at whreviews.com to be helpful.
You asked for template suggestions. I can't really help much with design, but you should check out apublicdefender.com for a good example of Wordpress used well.
Also, check out Jakob Nielsen's top 10 blog design mistakes:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html
Not everything applies, but he's got some good points.
Link LilCodger // Jun 9, 2008 at 9:29 am
I've used DreamHost for around three years. They have a one click install for WordPress that works as well as a one-click can really. I've never been unhappy with their hosting. They hand out bandwidth and storage like penny candy, which puts them in the long term liability category though.
Their weak link has always been email. Their email stinks. I haven't tried the new Gmail setup yet.