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Wrong, the better analogy here is forcing Ford to ask the buyer what type of oil they want put in the engine right off the bat. And FWIW - all Ford cars get Ford Motor Oil, regardless if the buyer would prefer Penzoil (but they are more than welcome to drive it right to their mechanic and have them put it in afterwards, just like you have been able to do with your browser, go to the App Store and download a different one)
I like that analogy a lot. People who care can always drain the oil and put in their oil of choice if it really matters to them (just as they can install another browser on their own).

But the majority of people, if the dealer rattles of a list of oil brands and choices (since more choice is always better!), will probably react with "The heck if I know, aren't you people supposed to be the experts?"
 
Use Edge on a new installation of Windows. Providing users with a good default experience is not even on the list of objectives.

Goal number one is to show you their ad-riddled home page.

Goal number two is to get you to turn on all the tracking in Edge.

Goal number three is to get you signed in to a Microsoft account so they can suck all your documents in to OneDrive and start upselling you on Office.

These are the only three goals. User experience only comes into it to the point that they are constantly testing the boundaries of how far they can push it. They are extremely aggressive about it.

And it's not just the first run, either. Essentially every single time you open Edge especially but most Microsoft products these days, something is going to steal focus and jump up at you at minimum, or just as likely completely take over your entire screen, to get you to agree to giving them more data or making damn sure you're aware of a new feature they've just added.

Oh and god help you if you change the default browser. You will be prompted at every turn to re-enable it as the default viewer for PDFs and web browsing. Also Google will remind you at every opportunity that you should be using Chrome, so Google can have your data instead.

This is all about controlling the endpoint. Since everything is encrypted now, owning the browser means owning the unencrypted juicy data that they can monetize, that's where the real money is. That's the reason for the new browser wars.

The browser ballot is just asking you to choose your stalker.

And for the record yes, Microsoft does. They absolutely used to, not certain if they are still required, but yes they were the first to have to do it.

And this is one reason I do see validity to the argument of banning third party browser renderers on iOS. At least it remains a final chokepoint to the total domination of Google. I think and hope that Apple is the least worst option to control the browser endpoint, of the options we have available. Maybe Mozilla, maybe.
I’m aware that Microsoft makes money off of people using edge, but does Apple make money off of safari? Without built in ads, I’m not sure how that would work.
 
I’m aware that Microsoft makes money off of people using edge, but does Apple make money off of safari? Without built in ads, I’m not sure how that would work.

To answer your question they make a metric **** ton of money via Safari from Google, but other than that I’m not sure. I don’t think so.

But it’s not really about what they do as much as it’s about what others want to do. Keeping Apple’s users on Safari helps keep them Apple users in general. Letting them use truly independent browsers just helps push them into the hands of their direct competition, Google and Microsoft.
 
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Getting a strong sense of dayja voo with The Windows/Internet Exploder debacle all those years ago. Fun times.

This is more like the AT&T debacle all those years before the later AT&T debacle all those years ago. The EU is going to be in the same situation here. First they're going to create a Chrome monopoly, then they're going to have to figure out how break up that Chrome monopoly which I expect will just keep coming back together the same way AT&T keeps coming back together.
 
I just want to change my default search engine in Safari to something other than Apple’s list. Don’t make me switch to Brave to use Brave Search.
 
Ironic since apple is choking of competition left and right.
Not seeing the irony. People are CHOOSING to buy Apple. And last time I checked, Google and Microsoft, Apple’s main competitors, are doing just fine. In fact, Microsoft is growing a lot faster than Apple and I’m pretty sure they’ve overtaken Apple in market value, and I don’t see Apple’s $4,000 version of metaquest changing that.
 
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Most iOS users use Safari and most don't mind. Why the EU feels this is sooo important to mandate a change is beyond me.

My concern is that, as Chrome and Safari represent 90% of global mobile browser market share, with Chrome actually having 65% total, why do we need to offer 12 different browsers? If people want another browser, they can install it.

It just seems like to much work to force people to make a decision when the vast majority either already know how to do what they want (Chrome) or are very happy with the default (Safari).

Maybe Ford should be forced to ask Car Buyers what tires they want; hey aftermarket are cheaper and some are better quality. Should we now force DeWalt to offer drill bits by Milwaukee?

Just seems like such a stupid way to govern.
I think the whole situation boils down to two things;
Market dominance.
Privacy.
I'd suggest that only one of these can apply to things like tyres. Then also you have the safety thing that may well physically affect others.
 
But between things like the stupid cookie popups and GDPR boilerplate we must consent to (thanks again, EU) and this, yes, they add up and making using computers less and less pleasant. Just because we tolerate them and are used to them doesn't mean they don't, subtly but cumulatively, make things worse.
Yet before ‘the stupid cookie popups’ websites could and did just put whatever the hell they liked on your browser without your knowledge and with no choice in the matter. If that’s making things worse then well, I just don’t know what to say.
 
Apple going off the deep end with malicious compliance. Wouldve been easier to make this worldwide instead of exempting places not in the EU, but Apple knows where the ad revenue comes from (USA) so it wants to keep us using its own spyware (browser) instead of someone elses.
 
Yet before ‘the stupid cookie popups’ websites could and did just put whatever the hell they liked on your browser without your knowledge and with no choice in the matter. If that’s making things worse then well, I just don’t know what to say.
It is a bad solution to a real issue. But not even the EU is going to destroy internet monetization by mandating a browser-level choice during install or first boot.

There's a big problem online where people don't like ads and how ads are run, but they also dont want to pay for websites. The EU shutting off avenues for the former while being unable to do anything about the latter isn't as much of a win as you think.
 
It is a bad solution to a real issue. But not even the EU is going to destroy internet monetization by mandating a browser-level choice during install or first boot.

There's a big problem online where people don't like ads and how ads are run, but they also dont want to pay for websites. The EU shutting off avenues for the former while being unable to do anything about the latter isn't as much of a win as you think.
The way that companies respond to the control is the problem, not the control itself. Just like how Apple is responding to this control. Even fining them with a weekly amount summing billions doesn’t stop them. That’s just proving the point that this is far too much power to wield.
 
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The way that companies respond to the control is the problem, not the control itself. Just like how Apple is responding to this control. Even fining them with a weekly amount summing billions doesn’t stop them. That’s just proving the point that this is far too much power to wield.
EU: show privacy choices on your site
Sites: *do that*
Users: *hate it, continues not paying for content*
 
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EU: show privacy choices on your site
Sites: *do that*
Users: *hate it, continues not paying for content*
Do you think that before there where regulations on what any old website could put in anyone’s computer without anyone at all being any the wiser, that it was a better situation?

Now all the crap except the essentials is opt in, and fully viewable. You click on that accept button and you’re not accepting anything that they’re forcing you ti accept to browse the free internet.

Blaming a regulation for big techs privacy invasive data collection methods getting on your nerves is a bit of a stretch in my book.
 
Meaninglessness. iOS prevents other web browsers from working properly (can't use the must have extensions). Otherwise, web browsers other than Safari would be used a long time ago.
 
Meaninglessness. iOS prevents other web browsers from working properly (can't use the must have extensions). Otherwise, web browsers other than Safari would be used a long time ago.
The necessity for devs to use WebKit for their browsers is being removed in the EU (where this browser choice is coming in to affect), so as long as they reprogramme their apps then that should no longer be the case.
 
EU: show privacy choices on your site
Sites: *do that*
Users: *hate it, continues not paying for content*
Now if sites just "do that", but they don't. It is really not implemented according to the purpose of the law.

The original intention with that law was that people should only be tracked with cookies if they accepted it.

But what do we get? We get stuff like that below. Easiest pick is to accept all cookies. And who defines the "best experience" here?

Screenshot 2024-01-29 at 12.55.32.png


If you want the strictly necessary only you have to go menu-diving and do several clicks. And on the worst ones they don't even fit well on the screen of a phone or will be blocked by the pop up blocker making it impossible to navigate.

And public/government sites that has zero interest in tracking you to show adds have to do it as well, just so you can accept the cookies that are required to make the site work.

If "sites" implemented this according to the intention of the law they would show three options. Equally sized buttons and with no nudging color schemes

  1. No cookies at all (may make the site non-functional)
  2. Only cookies essential for the site
  3. Allow cookies that allow us to track you and show you more personalised adds
(wordings are up to debate, but you get the point I'm sure)

I get it. The people behind macrumors and the gazillion other sites on the WWW cannot live of thin air. They can either show adds or put the site behind a paywall unless they want to work for free. That's only fair. So if people pick option 1 or 2 above, they could be redirected to a "please pay to get in" page.
 
I guess what I'm advocating for is just:

Less BS. Be honest. Don't be "evil" (now who had that value a few decades ago?).

Then less regulation is needed.

But since companies have to make more profit every freaking year, then they either have to be seriously innovative or they will eventually end up in the BS and evil category. That's a natural law right next to the laws of thermodynamics.
 
agh, this is total sh*t. I will need to scroll though a bunch of crap to find Safari and set it as a default. And one more annoying UI element.
 
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