5 ms·
At the end of the day the main problem of Firefox is that it fights against companies (ab)using their market power in one market to foster their browser on peop
by sgift 5y ago
At the end of the day the main problem of Firefox is that it fights against companies (ab)using their market power in one market to foster their browser on people.
- Google: Try to use anything made by them with another browser and without a blocker and see how long it takes until you get the "SURF BETTER WITH CHROME"-ads thrown into your face
- Microsoft: Edge is pre-bundled and you get little nags in the Google style noted above all the time. Various menus contain little "try out Edge, a browser made for Windows!"-ads
- Apple: Doesn't even allow other browsers on some of their platforms, deeply integrates the browser and the OS in others (i.e. exactly the behavior which got Microsoft in hot water in the 90s)
I don't think it's possible to fundamentally change the trend without intervention of government agencies that forbids Google, Microsoft and Apple from doing this and neither EU nor US show much interest in doing so. So, things will continue and at best Mozilla can hope for some stabilization at the bottom of the ladder.
Side note: Mozilla has done various things over time I'm not happy with, but all of these are at most accelerants. They didn't change the fundamental trajectory, so unlike other commentators I think they are not relevant to this topic, even though we could discuss day in or out if e.g. the pocket acquisition and all that came with it was a good thing.
- account42 5y agoMozilla was able to gain market share against Microsoft before by targeting power users who then recommended FF to others (or just installed it for them) so I disagree that Mozilla's current disdain for power users is not relevant. Even if they would have lost the average user anyway, their own decisions is what is going to lose them the rest that is keeping them from obscurity. I agree that competing with these megacorporations on their playing field is unrealistic, which is why Mozilla needs to start competing in places where these megacorporations don't want to. Mozilla's marketing department has already realized that privacy is one such area, but their developers and culture still need to catch up with that.