3 ms·

Edge has been passable, Edge gained users, someone at MS suggested they should exploit those users more -- 'they're enjoying it, we can make it shit and exploit

Edge has been passable, Edge gained users, someone at MS suggested they should exploit those users more -- 'they're enjoying it, we can make it shit and exploit them for money instead, go us' is how I imagine that thought went. If MS stay true to form then give it a year and Edge will be a fetid turd, but they'll add some lock-in from the OS; maybe Office online breaks in all the other browsers. The World will be worse, some middle-manager will get a promotion, shareholders will get a few more cents, so it goes...

esafak 4y ago
At least Edge is consumer software; your boss can't shove it down your throat.
- nr2x 4y ago
  Oh man, you must be too young to remember when companies had intranet sites that only worked on IE6 long after it was supported. That was pure hell as a young IT support drone. Good god.
  - esafak 4y ago
    I am familiar with the "This site is best viewed on X" and Netscape vs IE era but I thankfully entered the workforce later. My condolences to everyone who has to suffer stereotypical enterprise software.
  - doubled112 4y ago
    IE6 and a Java 5 web applet. Woo! The Flash UI of VMware vSphere. Why was everything Silverlight for a few months?
    - nr2x 4y ago
      Web Applets were pretty cool in theory at least, but a disaster in practice. Also never fails to amaze me that if Adobe hadn’t been so lazy with making Flash performant on Mac, Steve Jobs wouldn’t have delivered the death blow. ActionScript was not a bad language!
midoridensha 4y ago
>'they're enjoying it, we can make it shit and exploit them for money instead, go us' is how I imagine that thought went. That's exactly how it went. And since users keep allowing themselves to be exploited, that's how it'll continue to go. Luckily, these days users seem to prefer being exploited by Google instead of Microsoft, so MS isn't able to force their shitty browser on everyone the way they did in the IE6 days.
freediverx 4y ago
This is what Cory Doctorow has described as the enshittification of companies and platforms. It's not a fluke - it was the plan all along. First you treat your customers well to build up a user base. Then you make things crappy for the users in order to bring in business partners (advertisers), which is what they're doing now. And later they will screw their business partners as well and redistribute all profits for their shareholders. And then the platform will die.

esafak 4y ago

At least Edge is consumer software; your boss can't shove it down your throat.

nr2x 4y ago
Oh man, you must be too young to remember when companies had intranet sites that only worked on IE6 long after it was supported. That was pure hell as a young IT support drone. Good god.
- esafak 4y ago
  I am familiar with the "This site is best viewed on X" and Netscape vs IE era but I thankfully entered the workforce later. My condolences to everyone who has to suffer stereotypical enterprise software.
- doubled112 4y ago
  IE6 and a Java 5 web applet. Woo! The Flash UI of VMware vSphere. Why was everything Silverlight for a few months?
  - nr2x 4y ago
    Web Applets were pretty cool in theory at least, but a disaster in practice. Also never fails to amaze me that if Adobe hadn’t been so lazy with making Flash performant on Mac, Steve Jobs wouldn’t have delivered the death blow. ActionScript was not a bad language!

midoridensha 4y ago

>'they're enjoying it, we can make it shit and exploit them for money instead, go us' is how I imagine that thought went. That's exactly how it went. And since users keep allowing themselves to be exploited, that's how it'll continue to go. Luckily, these days users seem to prefer being exploited by Google instead of Microsoft, so MS isn't able to force their shitty browser on everyone the way they did in the IE6 days.

freediverx 4y ago

This is what Cory Doctorow has described as the enshittification of companies and platforms. It's not a fluke - it was the plan all along. First you treat your customers well to build up a user base. Then you make things crappy for the users in order to bring in business partners (advertisers), which is what they're doing now. And later they will screw their business partners as well and redistribute all profits for their shareholders. And then the platform will die.