In retrospect, I'm thinking that his level of actual technical knowledge in the area was probably zero, and that he never wrote anything himself (he was a businessman that roamed around the country, and this was probably just one of his ventures which others carried through for him).
"Yeah yeah I know, but it looks ugly, don't you agree? All square and boxy, can't you make it look better?"
if you've ever worked with paying client you always start at the point of zero technical knowledge, then you work up from there.
It sounds like he wanted a new redesign (check comment), and you bamboozled the guy with techno babble...
whats the real WTF?
P.S. Long time reader and lurker