I love you guys so hard right now. Great comments, lots of good points that are clearly informed by plenty of client-project experience, and even a couple of t

I love you guys so hard right now. Great comments, lots of good points that are clearly informed by plenty of client-project experience, and even a couple of things I didn't think to consider. Real quick: 1) Bear in mind that nowhere in the article do I _refuse_ to give ballpark estimates; I'm simply pointing out the downsides and offering a potential solution. 2) I know my site is horrible, and I knew that YOU would know my site is horrible! The new one is under development and should ship in another week or two, but shrug. The cobbler's children have no shoes sometimes. ;) 3) You folks who are suggesting order-of-magnitude estimates are _spot-on_, and this is more-or-less what I've learned to do over the years when giving some kind of an answer is critical to maintaining the life of a potential deal. _Sometimes_ the order-of-magnitude thing can backfire, though, particularly when the client is thinking in "cost" mode rather than "return on investment" mode. 4) Pointing out the downside of a thing and offering a better alternative does not constitute "complaining" insofar as I understand the term; rather, I think of it as problem-solving. 5) "Dear Programmers: Stop Giving Me a Ballpark Lines of Code Estimate" is fucking hilarious and I love you for thinking of it. :) OK, that's all I have time for, gotta run!