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It isn't just Google. Multiple browsers have flirted with hiding it. There are various mindsets that lead to want to do that - one designer I know calls it a d

by _jal 5y ago

It isn't just Google. Multiple browsers have flirted with hiding it. There are various mindsets that lead to want to do that - one designer I know calls it a debugging tool that should never have been released in the first place. For others, it is clearly about controlling the user with various justifications. (I consider it a canary. Its removal will be a signal that the HugeCos are comfortable relegating the non-corporate web to the fringe, Usenet-style. It will be there, and you can get to it if you go way out of your way, but what it there will mostly be automated spam and weirdness, tons of examples of specific use cases, and a few folks who have been arguing with each other since 1992.)

flyinghamster 5y ago
This and the proliferation of gold-rush TLDs like the .icu mentioned in the article make me feel like we're pretty well all the way there. For all my fighting the good fight, I'm just one more voice in the wilderness, though, and everyone wants their magic boxes without caring what's going on inside them - until they get bitten.
elliekelly 5y ago
> one designer I know calls it a debugging tool that should never have been released in the first place I've heard similar comments but I don't understand how people would be expected to navigate around the internet? Is the idea that Google's search input should replace it? So if I want to go to sec.gov I should search SEC and click the link (hopefully) provided at the top of the results rather than just go there directly? It just doesn't make sense to me.
- teddyh 5y ago
  In my limited experience, most browsers do what you describe already. Unless you type a 100% correct URL (and sometimes even if you do), a normal browser will send your URL string to Google (or similar entity), who will send back a redirect. The process is fast enought for you not to notice. It is often possible (if hard) to configure browsers to do traditional URL resolving, but I wouldn’t bet on it always being possible. Google certainly has every reason to disallow reconfiguring their own browser to not send data to Google.
  - chrismcb 5y ago
    The url you type is 100% correct. Sure, maybe you made a typo, but the browser didn't know that. It isn't sending your url to Google and waiting for a redirect. A redirect to what? A different url?
    - teddyh 5y ago
      No, a redirect to the correct URL, the URL you typed, or meant to type.
throaway3141593 5y ago
> Multiple browsers have flirted with hiding it. Safari has been doing this for a while now, yet no one is up in arms about it.

by _jal 5y ago

flyinghamster 5y ago

This and the proliferation of gold-rush TLDs like the .icu mentioned in the article make me feel like we're pretty well all the way there. For all my fighting the good fight, I'm just one more voice in the wilderness, though, and everyone wants their magic boxes without caring what's going on inside them - until they get bitten.

elliekelly 5y ago

> one designer I know calls it a debugging tool that should never have been released in the first place I've heard similar comments but I don't understand how people would be expected to navigate around the internet? Is the idea that Google's search input should replace it? So if I want to go to sec.gov I should search SEC and click the link (hopefully) provided at the top of the results rather than just go there directly? It just doesn't make sense to me.

teddyh 5y ago
In my limited experience, most browsers do what you describe already. Unless you type a 100% correct URL (and sometimes even if you do), a normal browser will send your URL string to Google (or similar entity), who will send back a redirect. The process is fast enought for you not to notice. It is often possible (if hard) to configure browsers to do traditional URL resolving, but I wouldn’t bet on it always being possible. Google certainly has every reason to disallow reconfiguring their own browser to not send data to Google.
- chrismcb 5y ago
  The url you type is 100% correct. Sure, maybe you made a typo, but the browser didn't know that. It isn't sending your url to Google and waiting for a redirect. A redirect to what? A different url?
  - teddyh 5y ago
    No, a redirect to the correct URL, the URL you typed, or meant to type.

throaway3141593 5y ago

> Multiple browsers have flirted with hiding it. Safari has been doing this for a while now, yet no one is up in arms about it.