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Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

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Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#301
post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be looking at the choice of opt-in vs. opt-out from the perspective of a user who actually cares about the feature. Much more common, though, I'd say, is the type of user who will accept whatever the default is, because they just don't care . Compare: the organ-donor registry. When it's opt-in, most people don't opt in. When it's opt-out, most people don't opt out. Most people just don't care. If you thin…

If you think something is good for people Therein lies the disagreement - Google thinks it is good for people to log in to Google services via their browser, and to always be logged in (it's certainly good for Google!), therefore they choose these defaults, opting in to login and to tracking. Many disagree.

Like Apple thinks it's "good for people" to have a 40% markup on their product...

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... is that the response was fast and direct. Communication about it seems to be. The actual code changes seem like they'll roll out in um... 3 or so months from now?

They clearly write in the blog that they'll make changes in Chrome 70 which will release in mid-october.

k, wasn't sure. I don't track the Chrome release schedule at all, so figured it was probably quarterly. Sounds like it's monthly then.

Looking again, yep mid-October. So, no rush then. A couple of weeks worth of extra data collection it is then.

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#303
My complaint is not this specific change, but the thought, review and release process that allowed this to become the default. And what was the thinking behind not attempting to explain the cookie behavior that at the very least is surprising, but generally just a bit creepy, right?

Did users really need to explain this to Google? Perceptions of trustworthiness are based upon behavior, and this erodes that a bit. Not a massive amount, but enough to cast new features in a different light.

(The justification that 'most people will find this easier to understand' only goes so far and the fact it gets trotted out so often is itself concern. 'Being logged in everywhere makes your life easier!' Okay, ... and? Who else's life does it make easier and what are they gaining?)

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#304
Chrome is just spyware. Move on to Firefox already. At some point, Chrome was feeling faster than Firefox and some dev tooling warranted a try. But, with Firefox where it is now, seriously think why on Earth do you want to run this spyware from Google as your web browser.

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#305
post #293
post #275

Won’t change my mind and will stick to Firefox after having switched because of this. First I don’t want to be logged in in my browser at all. Second, and probably more important, software is about trust. Even for an open source project, no one has the time to review millions of lines of code. So unfortunately one has to rely on what one believes is the behavior of the authors of the software. And what google did is…

I don’t want to be logged in in my browser at all Same here. Why does Chrome log you in in the first place? I mean I know it from the companies perspective of course. They want to consolidate as much data about you as possible. And tie you into their ecosystem. But what is the user facing benefit? Syncing your bookmarks across devices?

I would assume this is to compete with Apple's offerings (after all Apple doesn't just sign you into the browser, but into the OS nowadays). Apart from Chrome OS, Google doesn't have any other way to offer similar (tab-syncing, etc) functionality and signing you into their own browser is the closest they can get.

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#307

I’ve realized something over the years: Remember how “cool” Google was in 2007!? I vividly remember. I have learned an important fact that Ad business is rotten at the core - meaning it has direct conflicts with users. Therefore, I can never come to trust any Ads businesses: Facebook, Google, Snapchat, etc and recently Adobe and Microsoft. I’m disgusted at the state of advertisement in modern society. It ruined cable…

Reminds me of Futurama's commentary on "Ads in the 20th century": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPGgTy5YJ-g "Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky." (And that was in 1999. The 2018 version would have to be extended: "And in our email, and in the Windows start menu, and in our phones, and on shopping car…

David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest as well:

In the novel's world, each year is subsidized by a specific corporate sponsor for tax revenue. The years of Subsidized Time are: Year of the Whopper Year of the Tucks Medicated Pad Year of the Trial-Size Dove Bar Year of the Perdue Wonderchicken Year of the Whisper-Quiet Maytag Dishmaster Year of the Yushityu 2007 Mimetic-Resolution-Cartridge-View-Motherboard-Easy-To-Install-Upgrade for Infernatron/InterLace TP Systems for Home, Office or Mobile Year of Dairy Products from the American Heartland Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment (Y.D.A.U.) Year of Glad

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They clearly write in the blog that they'll make changes in Chrome 70 which will release in mid-october.

k, wasn't sure. I don't track the Chrome release schedule at all, so figured it was probably quarterly. Sounds like it's monthly then. Looking again, yep mid-October. So, no rush then. A couple of weeks worth of extra data collection it is then.

Yeah. I use Firefox so don't worry that much about it :).

Re: Product Updates Based on Your Feedback

#310
He doesn't say Google doesn't track you with this stuff does he?

My guess is they know exactly which sites you visited so the fact you can't see the History sync feature means he's being disingenuous about it not being turned on.

And even if this isn't being used right now someone will eventually abuse that unwritten agreement between you and Google.

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