Is a high priced usability "Guru" a good investment? Many colleagues in the web design field have felt that my recent article, "Gone in a Flash: Why E-com firms are in flat line mode," was a bit harsh and too critical of web developers who do not have a formal human factors engineering education. Despite this criticism I hold my original view. However, in the interest of being even handed, it is also true that some usability professionals took advantage of inexperienced and over capitalized web firms to market and promote usability consulting services that were, shall we say, a bit overpriced. Biography August 6, 2001