4 ms·

I'm not sure that people who repeat this meme realize what the situation with IE was. The bigger problem back then wasn't that they added new features, it's tha

I'm not sure that people who repeat this meme realize what the situation with IE was. The bigger problem back then wasn't that they added new features, it's that they basically packed up and did nothing after IE 6 had "won". There was a 5 year span between IE 6 and 7. The problem nowadays seems to be more that Chrome is adding features at a pace where few others can keep up. But they are also very active in standardization. Real-world experience with features is crucial when it comes to standardization.

saurik 6y ago
Well... I would argue that they "packed up" after they "lost", legally (to Netscape, who was no hero at the time), not after they "won". Here is a comment I wrote many years ago going into some oft-ignored background (pre-IE 5) on Microsoft vs. Netscape and extending web standards. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5718968 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5718968 And here is a talk I have at a conference a couple years ago that delves deeply into the timeline of the end and the downfall of Microsoft. https://vimeo.com/310654342 https://vimeo.com/310654342 Honestly, the web has always been filled with lots of broken promises and broken dreams and almost no one was ever incentivized to act in its best interests :(.
vezycash 6y ago
Internet explorer also added features at a pace others couldn't keep up with. Then came the lawsuit that threatened to break up the company over a free product. That's what made Microsoft stop work on internet explorer rather than the, 'we won!' narrative. By over-extending chrome, Google's exhausting the competition to extinction. Right now, only Firefox's remaining. Apple's decided to go at their own pace. Once Firefox dies, Google will go after chromium forks and start stop updating some key areas, turning them proprietory. Or better yet, packaging em to run on their own servers. It's what they did/are doing with android.
- pas 6y ago
  Is there a list of things that are not in AOSP only delivered through Play but are basically required to have a functioning Android phone?
  - vezycash 6y ago
    Basically anything that's been added to play services. Here's an old - outdated list. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on...

saurik 6y ago

Well... I would argue that they "packed up" after they "lost", legally (to Netscape, who was no hero at the time), not after they "won". Here is a comment I wrote many years ago going into some oft-ignored background (pre-IE 5) on Microsoft vs. Netscape and extending web standards. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5718968 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5718968 And here is a talk I have at a conference a couple years ago that delves deeply into the timeline of the end and the downfall of Microsoft. https://vimeo.com/310654342 https://vimeo.com/310654342 Honestly, the web has always been filled with lots of broken promises and broken dreams and almost no one was ever incentivized to act in its best interests :(.

vezycash 6y ago

Internet explorer also added features at a pace others couldn't keep up with. Then came the lawsuit that threatened to break up the company over a free product. That's what made Microsoft stop work on internet explorer rather than the, 'we won!' narrative. By over-extending chrome, Google's exhausting the competition to extinction. Right now, only Firefox's remaining. Apple's decided to go at their own pace. Once Firefox dies, Google will go after chromium forks and start stop updating some key areas, turning them proprietory. Or better yet, packaging em to run on their own servers. It's what they did/are doing with android.

pas 6y ago
Is there a list of things that are not in AOSP only delivered through Play but are basically required to have a functioning Android phone?
- vezycash 6y ago
  Basically anything that's been added to play services. Here's an old - outdated list. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on...