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I was a Pocket user from before they were bought, so I wouldn't call it crapware personally. Isn't it just a way to sync a reading list across browsers, and ha

I was a Pocket user from before they were bought, so I wouldn't call it crapware personally. Isn't it just a way to sync a reading list across browsers, and have those pages pre-cached on a mobile device for reading when you have no connection? I'm interested in what people find objectionable about it. The strongest argument I've heard is that it's not core browser functionality, it was fine before Mozilla bought them, and therefore it's just a distraction/bloat for Firefox. Which is definitely arguable, but probably not a reason to write off the biggest independent browser.

spencerflem 3y ago
As a Firefox appreciator, it's just not something I ever really wanted to use and it got a pretty prominent place in the UI when it came out. Has similar vibes to when windows added the weather forecast to the awesome bar. Imo the people making a big deal out of it are using it to justify why they're OK sticking with chrome (best case), or have a partisan political reason to hate Mozilla because of their ESG / DEI positions (ughhhhhh)
- AshamedCaptain 3y ago
  I was a Pocket user basically since it launched (I was looking for an AvantGo replacement, so imagine that), and I still don't understand Mozilla's purchase or very heavy-handed advertisement of it.
  - dralley 3y ago
    Simple: it's profitable. One of the few profitable side ventures they have. HN loves to simultaneously criticize Mozilla for 1) being utterly financially dependent on Google 2) putting resources into anything except Firefox 3) doing anything that smells like monetizing Firefox Spoiler alert: They can't avoid 1 without doing 2 or 3. It is what it is.
internetter 3y ago
I'm bothered that it's still not open source, despite promises when it was first announced (it's been 6 years!)
mananaysiempre 3y ago
> Isn't it just a way to sync a reading list across browsers, and have those pages pre-cached on a mobile device for reading when you have no connection? Basically, and I’ve been using it for that since before the acquisition, although recently the Android version had removed the option to cache full versions (only reader mode remains), which has enough of an impact on my usage that I’m planning to migrate away. Still, there’s a lot of things that seem very misaligned with Mozilla’s mission: the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the non-open-source nature, the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the default homepage with weird US-politics-related recommendations that has replaced the actual list, the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the recommended links inserted at the end of each article as an engagement-driven manipulation, and have I mentioned the huge dark-pattern tracking banner with the accompanying tracking. This would be an expected amount of evil assholery from a random SV startup, but from Mozilla it does feel like a point to add to the betrayal tally (hello EME/Widevine),

spencerflem 3y ago

As a Firefox appreciator, it's just not something I ever really wanted to use and it got a pretty prominent place in the UI when it came out. Has similar vibes to when windows added the weather forecast to the awesome bar. Imo the people making a big deal out of it are using it to justify why they're OK sticking with chrome (best case), or have a partisan political reason to hate Mozilla because of their ESG / DEI positions (ughhhhhh)

AshamedCaptain 3y ago
I was a Pocket user basically since it launched (I was looking for an AvantGo replacement, so imagine that), and I still don't understand Mozilla's purchase or very heavy-handed advertisement of it.
- dralley 3y ago
  Simple: it's profitable. One of the few profitable side ventures they have. HN loves to simultaneously criticize Mozilla for 1) being utterly financially dependent on Google 2) putting resources into anything except Firefox 3) doing anything that smells like monetizing Firefox Spoiler alert: They can't avoid 1 without doing 2 or 3. It is what it is.

internetter 3y ago

I'm bothered that it's still not open source, despite promises when it was first announced (it's been 6 years!)

mananaysiempre 3y ago

> Isn't it just a way to sync a reading list across browsers, and have those pages pre-cached on a mobile device for reading when you have no connection? Basically, and I’ve been using it for that since before the acquisition, although recently the Android version had removed the option to cache full versions (only reader mode remains), which has enough of an impact on my usage that I’m planning to migrate away. Still, there’s a lot of things that seem very misaligned with Mozilla’s mission: the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the non-open-source nature, the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the default homepage with weird US-politics-related recommendations that has replaced the actual list, the huge dark-pattern tracking banner, the recommended links inserted at the end of each article as an engagement-driven manipulation, and have I mentioned the huge dark-pattern tracking banner with the accompanying tracking. This would be an expected amount of evil assholery from a random SV startup, but from Mozilla it does feel like a point to add to the betrayal tally (hello EME/Widevine),