4 ms·

I think the author forgets that edge is not custom software written just for him. It is written for the masses. And masses like me like this feature. It has sav

I think the author forgets that edge is not custom software written just for him. It is written for the masses. And masses like me like this feature. It has saved me a couple of hundred dollars since launch since I shop online and use Edge. Also if you are so upset, then just disable it -> Settings > Privacy > Save Time and Money

ub99 5y ago
Do you think the author had an unreasonable expectation that a browser won’t suddenly start analyzing his buying habits and offer alternatives?
- TeMPOraL 5y ago
  Remember that one HTTP header that's always attached to every request every browser makes? User-Agent. Ha ha. Those were the days, when browsers were acting in the interest of their users.
- kenjackson 5y ago
  Is it analyzing buying habits or just the item he is looking at? And can’t you just turn this off?
  - ub99 5y ago
    I don’t think this is the right question to ask. Browsers can push any number of malware or tracking and then exclaim “can’t you just turn it off?”. I understand that some users find this feature useful, I just completely disagree with how it was rolled out.
    - torstenvl 5y ago
      You're assuming this is malware or tracking. I don't think that assumption is warranted. And at least this unasked-for feature is ostensibly pro-user, unlike Firefox's user-hostile additions like the Mr. Robot nonsense.
      - craftinator 5y ago
        People use Edge? I assumed that a majority of users do what I do on a fresh install, and download literally any browser that's not made by Microsoft, and set it as default.
        olyjohn 5y ago
        You're talking Windows users. They already either know they're being tracked and don't care, or who don't know they're being tracked. Why would they care about a different browser?
        craftinator 5y ago
        Fair point. Guess I've been an outlier since the first time I sat down at a keyboard, never been happy with defaults.
        saghm 5y ago
        Windows can be very pushy about resetting the default every now and then. One update a year or two ago opened a full-screen ad for an Edge tutorial that could only be skipped by going into the task manager and force closing the process, and even then unset the default browser and added an Edge icon to both the taskbar and desktop. I wouldn't be a surprised if a lot of people have been bulldozed into taking the path of least resistance.
      - readflaggedcomm 5y ago
        How is it possible to show alternatives to the products you view without tracking those pages?
        jsnell 5y ago
        The trivial non-tracking implementation would be for edge to install the entire database of products and prices to your local device. Whether that is practical or not depends on just how large the database is. But even if the database were to be too large, it'd still allow us to reduce the question to one of how to download the database incrementally to the device without leaking information, which is a solved problem. (E.g.the Safe Browsing algorithm.)
    - jsgo 5y ago
      If the browser doesn't work with your ethics of how a browser should operate, then it isn't the browser for you. That's okay. There are other options out there.
darepublic 5y ago
Nah I won't be disabling it because I have never even used edge in the first place. Doesn't change the fact that people are rightly pissed off by the fact that the masses are so downright stupid and dragging themselves and the rest of humanity toward destruction.
matheusmoreira 5y ago
So malware is okay because you can turn it off? No.
addicted 5y ago
Firefox and Mozilla got a lot more outrage for including Pocket, which was basically a slightly juiced up bookmarks or Read it Later functionality that nearly every other browser includes.
olyjohn 5y ago
Again... how many times do we keep having to disable things? Maybe you should have to enable it.

ub99 5y ago

Do you think the author had an unreasonable expectation that a browser won’t suddenly start analyzing his buying habits and offer alternatives?

TeMPOraL 5y ago
Remember that one HTTP header that's always attached to every request every browser makes? User-Agent. Ha ha. Those were the days, when browsers were acting in the interest of their users.
kenjackson 5y ago
Is it analyzing buying habits or just the item he is looking at? And can’t you just turn this off?
- ub99 5y ago
  I don’t think this is the right question to ask. Browsers can push any number of malware or tracking and then exclaim “can’t you just turn it off?”. I understand that some users find this feature useful, I just completely disagree with how it was rolled out.
  - torstenvl 5y ago
    You're assuming this is malware or tracking. I don't think that assumption is warranted. And at least this unasked-for feature is ostensibly pro-user, unlike Firefox's user-hostile additions like the Mr. Robot nonsense.
    - craftinator 5y ago
      People use Edge? I assumed that a majority of users do what I do on a fresh install, and download literally any browser that's not made by Microsoft, and set it as default.
      - olyjohn 5y ago
        You're talking Windows users. They already either know they're being tracked and don't care, or who don't know they're being tracked. Why would they care about a different browser?
        craftinator 5y ago
        Fair point. Guess I've been an outlier since the first time I sat down at a keyboard, never been happy with defaults.
      - saghm 5y ago
        Windows can be very pushy about resetting the default every now and then. One update a year or two ago opened a full-screen ad for an Edge tutorial that could only be skipped by going into the task manager and force closing the process, and even then unset the default browser and added an Edge icon to both the taskbar and desktop. I wouldn't be a surprised if a lot of people have been bulldozed into taking the path of least resistance.
    - readflaggedcomm 5y ago
      How is it possible to show alternatives to the products you view without tracking those pages?
      - jsnell 5y ago
        The trivial non-tracking implementation would be for edge to install the entire database of products and prices to your local device. Whether that is practical or not depends on just how large the database is. But even if the database were to be too large, it'd still allow us to reduce the question to one of how to download the database incrementally to the device without leaking information, which is a solved problem. (E.g.the Safe Browsing algorithm.)
  - jsgo 5y ago
    If the browser doesn't work with your ethics of how a browser should operate, then it isn't the browser for you. That's okay. There are other options out there.

darepublic 5y ago

Nah I won't be disabling it because I have never even used edge in the first place. Doesn't change the fact that people are rightly pissed off by the fact that the masses are so downright stupid and dragging themselves and the rest of humanity toward destruction.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

So malware is okay because you can turn it off? No.

addicted 5y ago

Firefox and Mozilla got a lot more outrage for including Pocket, which was basically a slightly juiced up bookmarks or Read it Later functionality that nearly every other browser includes.

olyjohn 5y ago

Again... how many times do we keep having to disable things? Maybe you should have to enable it.