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User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

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Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#31

Post by a8da6b0c91d »

blfr wrote: post #20

I don't understand the complaint here. Do people expect Mozilla to build everything themselves? Reader View is a great feature that was clearly missing. Adding a third party sync to it is really no different from picking a default search engine to serve location bar entries. Pocket is fine, best of the trio (Instapaper, Readability) IMHO. I actually switched to Pocket from Readability, which was getting buggier, a fe…

I love the pocket integration. The built-in functionality definitely works much better than the plugin, which was weirdly slow sometimes and had some glitches. Pocket has changed how I use the web. With a single click I send any substantive article to get automatically synced to my Kobo ereader, which also has built-in pocket integration.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#32

Post by jimmahoney »

asquabventured wrote: post #21
k-mcgrady wrote: post #5

When did they build in Pocket? I didn't like when they added Hello but this seems even stranger. I guess they're getting money from Pocket for it in the same way they get money from Google for search but users can opt-out of Google search - from those complaints it doesn't sound possible for Pocket. (Please let me know if I'm wrong).

1) Type about:config in the browser's address bar and hit the enter-key afterwards. 2) Confirm that you will be careful if the prompt appears. 3) Search for browser.pocket.enabled. 4) Double-click on the preference to toggle its state from true to false. This disables Pocket in Firefox and the icon should be gone once you restart the browser. Source: http://www.ghacks.net/2015/05/14/how-to-disable-pocket-in-fi...

But this procedure leaves it in the booksmarks menu - far from ideal.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#33

Post by sp332 »

morganvachon wrote: post #10
h1fra wrote: post #4

These are mostly childish comment, not really HN worthy.

And yours is? Most of the comments center around the same idea: Mozilla removed the choice of which "read later" service to use by default, by baking it into the browser itself instead of leaving it as an extension or add-on, where it and all the other services like it belong. So, now if you have a user who doesn't want a "read later" service, they have to take the extra steps to disable the button and go into about:…

So, now if you have a user who doesn't want a "read later" service, they have to take the extra steps to disable the button and go into about:config to completely turn it off.

Actually the user would do absolutely nothing, and presto, no read-later service. You have to create an account with Pocket before you even have the option of saving anything.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#34

Post by scrollaway »

soapdog wrote: post #28

Let me clarify some things: * There is no money involved in the Pocket thing. * Pocket was added internally and not as an extension because it was easier. * You don't become a Pocket user simply by using Firefox, you need to actually use the feature. * Mozilla helped Pocket create a new privacy policy * If you don't use it, then it is not doing you any harm. If somehow the presence of a button annoys you, then you ca…

Disclaimer: I am affiliated with Mozilla. I am not a Mozilla employee. I also care very little about the Pocket situation.

Pocket was massively mishandled. You should have seen it coming from a mile away. And when you didn't and it happened anyway, you should have backtracked a lot faster and released a public statement.

And damn it, priorities. You talk about partnerships creating opportunities etc; you have plenty of opportunities already. How about Persona, for example? How come it got moved to community support and got sod all marketing behind it, despite being a technology the open web direly needs and Mozilla being one of the only entities that can pull it off? The tech is good, too! Where's that commitment to the open web now?

How many people were complaining about their bookmark management before Pocket was introduced? Was it ever an area of firefox that needed dire improvements? Not since sync was introduced.

You have nobody to blame but yourselves. Users are hostile to change by default, you have to be able to back up the change with solid reasoning, and you have to be able to sell it to anyone who doesn't actually read what you say. You should have known better; don't be surprised about the hostile reaction now.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#35

Post by cscharenberg »

eli wrote: post #24
morganvachon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yours is? Most of the comments center around the same idea: Mozilla removed the choice of which "read later" service to use by default, by baking it into the browser itself instead of leaving it as an extension or add-on, where it and all the other services like it belong. So, now if you have a user who doesn't want a "read later" service, they have to take the extra steps to disable the button and go into about:…

Honest question: would it be better if instead they rolled out a custom Firefox-only Read Later service, as was the original plan? Is the issue that they "picked a winner" or that Read Later shouldn't be built in to the browser, period?

Neither of those is a good choice. The custom Firefox-only would be a waste of developer resources. Similarly, picking a winner is also a waste of developer resources: there were already extensions that had far more functionality. Firefox should have added a more general "Experience Enhancements" feature that suggested great features that could be enabled and offered a few options. This same concept of periodically offering enhancements to users could be presented periodically and offer any number of things over time.

My complaint is the Mozilla folks missed a more general, better capability they could have built.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#36

Post by anon3_ »

mariusmg wrote: post #3

Mozilla is not a merry band of hackers anymore. They're a bona fida corporation with its own agenda. Their agenda depends on having as many users as possible so they're trying to make everything they can for that. The free web, choice and all that become second place now. PS : Look at their corporate HQ.

Mozilla used to champion the hacker ethic.

Until a group of outsiders on social networks with no stake in Mozilla came in with shame tactics. Even people with little connection to them would use them as a vehicle for their own benefit.

Bring back Eich.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#37

Post by cscharenberg »

zokier wrote: post #14
k-mcgrady wrote: post #5

When did they build in Pocket? I didn't like when they added Hello but this seems even stranger. I guess they're getting money from Pocket for it in the same way they get money from Google for search but users can opt-out of Google search - from those complaints it doesn't sound possible for Pocket. (Please let me know if I'm wrong).

Mozilla does not get money from Pocket source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2930532/reading-service-pocke... There's no monetary benefit to Mozilla from the integration: Pocket didn't pay for placement in the browser.

Which is odd, because that means Mozilla is paying Pocket for it by funding developer and support time. The fact Pocket is not paying is a bad thing: it's a one-way drain on Mozilla resources. How is this a fair partnership?

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#38

Post by morganvachon »

eli wrote: post #24
morganvachon wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yours is? Most of the comments center around the same idea: Mozilla removed the choice of which "read later" service to use by default, by baking it into the browser itself instead of leaving it as an extension or add-on, where it and all the other services like it belong. So, now if you have a user who doesn't want a "read later" service, they have to take the extra steps to disable the button and go into about:…

Honest question: would it be better if instead they rolled out a custom Firefox-only Read Later service, as was the original plan? Is the issue that they "picked a winner" or that Read Later shouldn't be built in to the browser, period?

I'm sure Mozilla did what they thought was best for themselves at the time.

For me personally, I would prefer most to see it separated from the browser, available as an extension only, so that there is better competition in the extension space, and so the users have the absolute most choice. Barring that, I would prefer to see Mozilla roll their own rather than, as you put it, "pick a winner".

Hard-coding a third party's product into your own is a bad idea; what if Pocket changes their terms of service to be even more user-hostile than it is now? What if they decide to start doing things the Mozilla Foundation can't stomach? Mozilla would then have to go through the same steps again to integrate a different third party, if they decided to keep the same paradigm in place. And I'm not just picking on Pocket, I would be saying the same thing with any proprietary third party service.

Re: User feedback on Pocket submitted to Mozilla

#40

Post by anc84 »

soapdog wrote: post #28

Let me clarify some things: * There is no money involved in the Pocket thing. * Pocket was added internally and not as an extension because it was easier. * You don't become a Pocket user simply by using Firefox, you need to actually use the feature. * Mozilla helped Pocket create a new privacy policy * If you don't use it, then it is not doing you any harm. If somehow the presence of a button annoys you, then you ca…

Looking at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/?sort=us... it looks like Adblock Plus and Video DownloadHelper are really popular. Adding those by default would make things better for everyone. Lots of people are loving those addons and using them on a daily basis. They do not do you any harm if you don't use them. You could just click the addons menu and remove them.

Yeah, petty, but well...

How many of the Firefox users actually wanted Pocket and how many are using it? AMO says 217,149 users which is a laugh.

Back in the days I felt like Mozilla was about user control and also privacy. Now you add a third-party feature that gets to know things you want to read later or your other devices without there being any need for them to know. At the very least, this information should be end to end encrypted.

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