Re: Stop the bling, fergawdssake!

My bloviated meandering follows what Greywolf graced us with on 
11/13/2011 10:11 AM:
> On 13/11/2011 7:23 AM, Henri Sivonen wrote:
>> On Sat, Nov 12, 2011 at 4:16 PM, Greywolf<[email protected]>  wrote:
>>> I just downgraded my wife's FF8 to 3.6.24, because the Skype
>>> plugin won't work with FF8.
>>
>> This is the first time I've seen anyone complain about the Skype
>> extension *not* loading into Firefox. I've seen people complaining
>> about the Skype extension loading into Firefox numerous times, because
>> the Skype extension has made the Firefox user experience worse (see
>> for example 
>> http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2011/01/mozilla-blocks-skype-add-on-caused-33k-firefox-crashes-in-a-week.ars 
>>
>> ). In particular, the Skype extension is notorious for getting
>> re-enabled after Skype updates if the user has previously chosen to
>> disable it.
>>
>> I'm curious, why do you or your wife need the Skype extension (as
>> opposed to initiating or receiving Skype calls from the UI offered by
>> the Skype app itself)?
>>
> 
> Well, if it was clear that you don't actually need the FF Skype 
> extension, I wouldn't have bothered. But that was not clear. See, the 
> obvious inference is that Skype somehow needed the browser to function 
> properly, else hwy would there be an extension for it? So I just dumped 
> FF8, Just In Case. Foolish by hindsight, but wotthehell, I wasn't about 
> to waste my time trying to figure that out.
> 
> I suppose someone will now tell me I should've known or tried to find 
> out (they'd certainly do so on the Linux NGs, which I no longer bother 
> with). But why should I? We are well past the time when a user shoiuld 
> have to know arcane details about the need for/behaviour of/effects of a 
> plug-in or extension. A computer is an appliance. It should just work.
> 
Did you get just as upset that ATT dropped the rotary UI and went to 
touch-tone? Do you use the Jitterbug phone since it has a simple UI? How 
about TVs, do you pine over the good ol' days when you could use a 
rotary dial to change the channel?

To paraphrase Omar Khayyam:

The Moving Technology changes; and, having changed,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a UI element,
Nor all your Tears wash out an Icon of it

-- 
Sailfish - Netscape Champion
Netscape/Mozilla Tips: http://www.ufaq.org/ , http://ilias.ca/
Rare Mozilla Stuff: https://www.projectit.com/