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URLs having any meaning at all strikes me as bias. If my parents visited a SSL site (say, a bank) and the address bar simply displayed the company name and noth

URLs having any meaning at all strikes me as bias. If my parents visited a SSL site (say, a bank) and the address bar simply displayed the company name and nothing more, they would not miss URLs at all. This is also why your parents and grandparents can just type random text into an address bar to execute a search instead of having to go to google.com or type in something cryptic like google.com?q=thing%20i%20want.

alistair77 14y ago
That's confusing two different concepts. URLs are the equivalent of a full postal address whereas searching is the equivalent of asking a stranger how to get somewhere. Why would you want to always ask and trust a search engine when you already know how to get somewhere? DNS spoofing aside, I know I can trust anything under, for example, bbc.co.uk and I know where /radio, /news etc takes me. Guess what, so do my seventy year old parents!
- shocks 14y ago
  Most people (non-techies) I know will search "facebook" to get to facebook.com. The same with YouTube/Twitter/etc.
  - moreati 14y ago
    My goto example of this is when a ReadWriteWeb article briefly become the top Google result for 'Facebook login' http://readwrite.com/2010/02/11/how_google_failed_internet_meme http://readwrite.com/2010/02/11/how_google_failed_internet_m...
  - Shish2k 14y ago
    Some people I know will search for "google" using the browser's search box to get to google, then type in "yahoo" into google to find yahoo's website, then click the "mail" icon to get at their email /o\
    - shocks 14y ago
      Hehe, I have seen this done. Crazy. :/
- CodeCube 14y ago
  That's a sample size of one person's experience. I on the other hand am constantly meeting people who's only mode of navigation on the web involves typing the word "facebook", or "gmail", or, yes, even "google" into the address bar, and then clicking on the relevant google search result. It drives me crazy, and despite my constant wailings using the same exact argument you make above ("Why would you want to always ask and trust a search engine when you already know how to get somewhere?") ... they simply shrug their shoulders and keep on keepin' on.
  - alistair77 14y ago
    Yes, I can't argue with that, though I am meeting an increasing number of non-techies who are interested in different (better) ways of using the web and IT in general.

alistair77 14y ago

That's confusing two different concepts. URLs are the equivalent of a full postal address whereas searching is the equivalent of asking a stranger how to get somewhere. Why would you want to always ask and trust a search engine when you already know how to get somewhere? DNS spoofing aside, I know I can trust anything under, for example, bbc.co.uk and I know where /radio, /news etc takes me. Guess what, so do my seventy year old parents!

shocks 14y ago
Most people (non-techies) I know will search "facebook" to get to facebook.com. The same with YouTube/Twitter/etc.
- moreati 14y ago
  My goto example of this is when a ReadWriteWeb article briefly become the top Google result for 'Facebook login' http://readwrite.com/2010/02/11/how_google_failed_internet_meme http://readwrite.com/2010/02/11/how_google_failed_internet_m...
- Shish2k 14y ago
  Some people I know will search for "google" using the browser's search box to get to google, then type in "yahoo" into google to find yahoo's website, then click the "mail" icon to get at their email /o\
  - shocks 14y ago
    Hehe, I have seen this done. Crazy. :/
CodeCube 14y ago
That's a sample size of one person's experience. I on the other hand am constantly meeting people who's only mode of navigation on the web involves typing the word "facebook", or "gmail", or, yes, even "google" into the address bar, and then clicking on the relevant google search result. It drives me crazy, and despite my constant wailings using the same exact argument you make above ("Why would you want to always ask and trust a search engine when you already know how to get somewhere?") ... they simply shrug their shoulders and keep on keepin' on.
- alistair77 14y ago
  Yes, I can't argue with that, though I am meeting an increasing number of non-techies who are interested in different (better) ways of using the web and IT in general.