Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by 9dl | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

9dl

I did it like this

Install FF

Set it as default

Change path on desktop shortcut for "Internet" to FF

And ofc do not forget to say that is new IE version

View on HN

I always found that it was best not to lie to users for their own good, at least if you want them to continue considering you a trusted source of computing information.

You don't have to explain what firefox is, or what IE is, just that "this isn't IE but it does the same thing and will keep you safe".

Maybe they'll have follow up questions, and you can answer those, but lying is just a good way for them to go back to IE and not tell you because they don't to be treated condescendingly.

If you’re on Windows, you need to set up edge-deflector too, which is a fairly advanced piece of idiocy.

There is a way to get rid of Edge by renaming its install folder or something like that. I did it, and I love it.

Change the icon of the FF shortcut to look like the IE icon ;)

> And ofc do not forget to say that is new IE version

That's just plain dumb. Explain to your users what you are doing. You seem to think they are stupid, well they are not.

Good sir, I did not have 10h+ for lecture per client

And by the way, smart ones already had FF and Opera installed

Oh no, he doesn't think they are stupid, just that they don't know the difference between browsers. If my mechanic mounted a new transmission or something that wasn't the same brand as the one mounted before, and told me "it's the new version", I couldn't care less as long as it worked as intended. I don't know anything about transmissions, so from my point of view I have no way of knowing if what he's telling me is the truth or not, I just trust him to make my car work again.

This reminds me that such people also think that the visual experience of browsing the internet is somehow "fixed". My impression of social media is that one of its draws (pitfalls actually) is that it gives the impression of different people experiencing the same thing, e.g.: a 100 people like this or 500 people retweeted that.

However, as programmers, we should see the internet not as a browser at all. We should see it as a list of protocols and implementations thereof.

I think a big part of the oh-so-common emotional social media battles is anticipation of the other person's experience. Hopefully for you, as a programmer reading this, your view of the internet is protected by automated command line scripts that fight your internet battles for you...

>social media ...gives the impression of different people experiencing the same thing

Brilliant!

If my mechanic mounted a new transmission from another brand without telling me beforehand that he intended to do so, and I found out later, then I would immediately lose all trust in such a mechanic.

Why did he mount a different brand? Was it because he thinks it's better? Maybe it's cheaper, but otherwise equivalent? I have no way of knowing, and I trust his judgement entirely. On the other hand, if I went to my mechanic and said "Look Bob, I want an ACME Turboencabulator v2 mounted" I believe he would be happy to do so. The point is, most users don't even know what a browser is and just want to get back to facebook ASAP, and don't care if you tell them you installed an ACME Turboencabulator or a Stark Industries Turboelectroencabulator.

Of course, we all know the original Turboencabulator is GE and all the others are knockoffs, but I've tried other brands and they work just as well, if not even better.

In automotive, there's a rich third-party ecosystem of replacement parts manufacturers.

Even the original vehicle manufacturer might purchase the parts from several of them.

You, as an typical end-user, have practically no chance to find out, whether the replacement part is "original" or not.

Yes, the most ignorant among us will never find out, unless they have a problem and go to a different mechanic that tells them. But it is very very obvious when you actually receive parts whether or not it's an OEM part, or an aftermarket part. Both may be identical and made in the same factory, but if I request a repair with OEM parts, am charged for OEM parts, and am provided with non-OEM parts that is repair fraud and a crime.

Same here, and I understand cars. This is repair fraud, actually, and a criminal offense in the US. If I paid for and was told I would receive an OEM part and instead I got some aftermarket part off RockAuto, I'd be beyond pissed off and I'd get my recompense somehow.

I understand the grandparent point, but their analogy is terrible. When you are paying for a specific brand of item and you get an alternative brand without being informed and giving consent, that is fraud. It is a crime, and it is effectively stealing from you the difference in price/value/cost of the two items, since you're paying for the other brand.

Never did I mention I had specified a model/brand. I just went to the mechanic and asked him "fix my transmission". Whatever the way he does it, if it works it's good to me.

A ton of people are stupid. You don't know his users.

No they are not, they just frequently devoted their intelligence to being a lawyer, doctor or whatever rather than caring about tech. Any more than they cared about the finer points of their microwave or VHS recorder.

The first Google scam - yes scam - was Adsense and adwords. The search "sponsored" box was a yellow designed to be near indistinguishable from white, and was invisible on many LCD monitors. Adsense and adword links were the same blue IE used for links - because people had been conditioned to believe blue links simply traversed the web.

With hindsight, that's the moment everyone should have lost all trust in Google.

yeah back then there was a theme for firefox 3 that mimiked explorer icon and ux, all my relatives had that, very few questioned the different download menu.

thanks satan In all seriousness, "And ofc do not forget to say that is new IE version", that is the key, let them think they are still using their old software.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com