ChangeForge - Latest Comments in ChangeForge | Ken Stewart | Where business and technology collide » Firefox 3: The Great Let Down?

Re: ChangeForge | Ken Stewart | Where business and technology collide » Firefox 3: The Great Let Down?

changeforge — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:16:34 -0000

Tsu, thank you for the in depth points... I really appreciate the feedback. To some extent the article was intended to be attention grabbing.

I suppose I'm talking on two different angles here, and allowed emotion to bundle them together.

On one hand, I completely agree with you that fierce competition is a must in order for consumers to benefit in a capitalist society (you will notice I did mention this in my article).

On the other hand, I am completely sick to death of the community of "fanboys" espoucing how great things like Google, Apple, and Mozilla are - and continually bashing on Microsoft just because it seems like its an "us against the big machine" type of mentality.

Do not mistake my intention here, I whole-heartedly agree in a persons right to feel that way, but these companies are just like any other - not some 'holier-than-thou' entity that is revolutionizing the world - at least not like Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi.

So, to your points on Firefox and Mozilla, I would generally agree, but think the code does need some improvements. I do agree with your assertion that we need standards to write web-based (or any other) code to. I do not agree that FF3 is a superior browser, in general purpose - but to me it is much like the devil you know vs. the devil you don't.

To my other point in my rant, I suppose my underlying fear is that the "tech" community is a bit myopic in their outlook and are continually gushing on firefox, twitter, friendfeed, apple, and google... as a general observation.

Thank you for bringing some clarity to the rant ;-) Great comments, and I most definitely welcome a challenge - or else I wouldn't have posted this somewhat contrarian opinion

Re: ChangeForge | Ken Stewart | Where business and technology collide » Firefox 3: The Great Let Down?

Strong One — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:06:29 -0000

Sorry to say.. I tried Firefox a while back and didn't like it.
Call me the amateur, but I seem to stick with IE.

Re: ChangeForge | Ken Stewart | Where business and technology collide » Firefox 3: The Great Let Down?

tsudohnimh — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 22:59:10 -0000

I appreciate the article but must say I have a very different view of Mozilla and Firefox. Firefox is just a browser and Mozilla is not doing cancer research. However, Mozilla is producing excellent open source software that standardizes across all 3 major operating platforms. As we move toward the inevitability of cloud computing and ubiquitous web based applications I think the presence of an open source, standards compliant and community reviewed browser is absolutely necessary.

Firefox's innovations continue to elevate browsing technology and promote web standards. Without Firefox I doubt IE7 would be offering tabbed browsing or that the IE7 team would have focused on creating a more standards compliant browser. An open source foundation is keeping a behemoth software company on their toes and that is a very good thing for the end user regardless of their browser preference. (Imagine what would happen if a Linux environment like Ubuntu continues to gain popularity and compatibility, Windows 7 might be very different. Doubtful to be sure, but it's nice to dream)

Finally, the Mozilla team continues to find a way to make a "better browser." Even a simple and intuitive addition like the Firefox 3 address bar has already drastically reduced the time it takes me to visit a URL. Mozilla seems to put real thought into what a web user needs, like adding tags to bookmarks, creating smart bookmark folders, or introducing a new iconography to SSL certificate validation. That type of thinking has not occurred or at least has not translated into software with IE. IE7 is still slow, has (IMHO) a terrible UI, and treats invalid certs with a terrible error page that a common user mistakes for a 404.

I'm grateful to Mozilla and the Open Source community for meeting my needs and making my browsing experience better. IE hasn't done that since the Netscape days.

Good post my friend.