"Pocket: the feature nobody wanted"

[Omega X]

http://benjaminkerensa.com/2015/07/13/p ... ody-wanted

Surprisingly someone spoke up. I wonder how long before he's shunned for going against the grain.

[malliz]

If there is no financial gain for Mozilla then there has to be some scratch my back type deal done seriously the number of downloads for pocket would hardly make a statistical blip. If you look at the download numbers for themes et'c in the early days they had that number up in short order.
In the faint hope Someone from Mozilla read this then cut the BS you are not kidding anyone

[ffextensionguru]

I think too, most users don't understand that Pocket is a third-party service with their own Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (which I am sure are quite different than those of Mozilla). This isn't like an add-on for a third-party service (Photobucket comes to mind) where if you don't agree with their policies then you choose not to install the add-on.

[mightyglydd]

A Privacy Policy that Read It Later, Inc., not Mozilla, reserve the right to "amend" as they please....

[LoudNoise]

If history is any indication, Benjamin Kerensa fought the good fight, ran smack-dab into the "don't worry. be happy" brick wall that Mozilla puts up when a stupid decision has been made and they are not about to retreat until they can pretend that it was just an experiment Either he has a new job offer or has a number of good replies to his resume.

Being shunned by Mozilla is a bit like being like being shunned by charismatic Quakers.

[Frank Lion]

This thread 18 months ago would have been 3 pages long at least by now. But since Australis came out in April 2014, Firefox has lost around 30% of its users.

Mozilla used to think that hostility to their strange ideas was bad, but people have to care to be hostile. These days they are seeing that total indifference is even worse.

[Drumbrake]

I think too, most users don't understand that Pocket is a third-party service with their own Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (which I am sure are quite different than those of Mozilla). (...)

That's the main concern IMHO: a (mostly useless and certainly not privacy-oriented) third-party service (furthermore not compliant with free software guidelines, as far as I understand) bundled by default in Firefox, by definition an open-source browser.

It has happened before with the DRM thing and the Cisco plugin, but this has to stop: people could always install addons and plugins if they wish so, but bundling this stuff in Firefox is another thing.

Speaking of Pocket, even the way they decided to implement doesn't look right to me at all: to disable it, you apparently just have to drag its icon back to the customization palette.
Since when this is a solid, surefire way to toggle off a functionality? And for good measure they are even talking about getting rid of the related about:config switches... why?

[ffextensionguru]

I think too, most users don't understand that Pocket is a third-party service with their own Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (which I am sure are quite different than those of Mozilla). (...)

It has happened before with the DRM thing and the Cisco plugin, but this has to stop: people could always install addons and plugins if they wish so, but bundling this stuff in Firefox is another thing.

Not like there was a huge demand for Pocket, was something like 220K installs which is less than 1% of the user base. I saw that Cisco Systems Plugin the other day and really don't understand what it even does or what DRM content it is suppose to allow. I was kinda under the impression most everything was either HTML5 or Flash based. Is Apple QuickTime still around, that use to be a surefire way to crash Firefox in the early days.

Since when this is a solid, surefire way to toggle off a functionality? And for good measure they are even talking about getting rid of the related about:config switches... why?

May be they think Malware is going to make a change the user is not expecting...oh wait that was the reasoning for getting rid of the new tab behaviour in about:config, that's stupid. Further enhances the conspiracy Mozilla is getting some type of kickback (though they claim they are not, at least monetarily) from Read It Later.

[KilliK]

But since Australis came out in April 2014, Firefox has lost around 30% of its users.

I doubt it. 30% is too big.

[Omega X]

But since Australis came out in April 2014, Firefox has lost around 30% of its users.

I doubt it. 30% is too big.

30% of its users, not 30% of the market. Firefox sits at around 16% which used to be closer to 28% at one point. So its easily approaching a 50% loss.

[streetwolf]

A little OT but what browser have the Fx defectors been going to? Is it Google? I wouldn't use Google if you paid me but is it really superior to Fx? I recall using it way back when and found it slower than Fx. Has Fx become the new whipping boy on the block?

[Grantius]

A little OT but what browser have the Fx defectors been going to? Is it Google? I wouldn't use Google if you paid me but is it really superior to Fx? I recall using it way back when and found it slower than Fx. Has Fx become the new whipping boy on the block?

Moving to iPads and using Safari.

[KilliK]

But since Australis came out in April 2014, Firefox has lost around 30% of its users.

I doubt it. 30% is too big.

30% of its users, not 30% of the market. Firefox sits at around 16% which used to be closer to 28% at one point. So its easily approaching a 50% loss.

Firefox lost 150m users in one year? I very much doubt it.

[JayhawksRock]

Browser Market - Users share change since Aug 2013
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/browser ... imeframe=M

[Omega X]

Firefox lost 150m users in one year? I very much doubt it.

You should. Not sure where you're getting 150 million from.

I've double checked: Firefox lost 50% of its total peak userbase (using Statcounter as a base) from 32% in 2009 to 16% Now.

Firefox had 22% in 2012. Today its 16%, a 6 % loss. From April 2014 to now there's about a 2% loss. In 2012, Firefox had 450+mln users(according to Mozilla). 27mln have jumped ship since. Far from 150mln but its nothing to sneeze at.

Of course its not counting the amount of contributors that jumped ship since.

(BTW, hitslink shows a 3% loss from April 2014. Though their numbers have always been suspect.)