[thelist] MSN locks out non IE browsers

.jeff jeff at members.evolt.org
Thu Oct 25 23:53:25 CDT 2001


dan,

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> From: Daniel J. Cody
>
> Irrelevant. The fact is they are knowlingly shutting out
> competing browsers from their website.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

and how is that any different than wasp and their initial
anti-non-standards-compliant browser campaign?  how is it any different than
an art site shutting out all non-netscape users?  how is it any different
than ie users getting the shaft at home.netscape.com?  the reality is, it
isn't any different.

*none* of the sites i've mentioned are bound by any sort of requirements to
make themselves available to everybody.  if they choose to shut out a
portion of their audience because of locale, browser, color of underwear,
etc. that's their prerogative.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> Millions of people do have msn.com as their homepage,
> granted. Many people that don't use IE still rely on
> msn.com as their 'internet homepage'.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

don't you think that's part of what's so attractive, from a business sense,
to pull this sort of move?

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> this does *not* make web developers lives easier.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

if it widens the gap and increases the market share of late-model ie
browsers in use, how does that *not* make web developers lives easier?

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> its *JUST* as easy to serve the page from msn.com and
> have it display in any browser.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

is it?  do you have the skinny on how their publishing system works?  do you
know what it takes to change the html it outputs?

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> further, is the purpose of msn.com to *make* people
> upgrade their browser or to serve content?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

i'd say the primary purpose is to serve content with an added bonus being
the sheer number of visitors and the ability to get a message out about
upgrades to so many.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> if the former, its a great example of MS extending and
> embracing.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

i knew i'd hear the "extend and embrace" argument sooner or later in this
thread.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> > Now if Yahoo would only do the same thing...
>
> if yahoo ever did the same thing, they'd lose 10-20% of
> their audience within a day. period.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

to who?  there's hardly anybody on the web right now that could take the
influx or has the depth of information yahoo has.  i suspect a good share of
that 10-20% would make the switch rather than lose out.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> a good thing? why is it a good thing other than MS
> telling you 'its a good thing'?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

why is it always assumed that when someone argues that it's a good thing the
argument back is almost always word for word what you just said?  is it
possible that those that think it's a good thing think so for their own
reasons and not just because they've been brainwashed by microsoft's
marketing dogs?

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> is it a good thing for you to have to pay 3 cents every
> time you send an email through hotmail?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

depends.  if it cuts down on the amount of spam, yes.  if it cuts down on
the number of people using currently free hotmail accounts for less than
positive purposes, sure.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> is it a good thing for developers to have to pay a
> couple thousand dollars just to have the 'priviledge'
> to hook into passport?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

that's a loaded question.  do you think microsoft should just give that away
for free?  if so, why and how do you propose they reap the rewards of their
development efforts?

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> theres nothing good about locking people into a
> subscription scheme because they're comfortable with
> the application.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

actually, that's the very foundation of the subscription model argument.
"if they're comfortable they will pay", which in many cases is true.
locking people in and subscription models aren't intimately tied though.
there's nearly always another alternative out there, should the user not
like the payment idea.

just my thoughts,

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/






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