Web browser choice matters
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Our lives are full of choices. Where to eat? What to read? Who to spend time with?
The choices we make determine the quality of our life, and how we see the world. So many of these choices we take quite seriously, weighing the consequences, thinking about the implications, and choosing carefully and thoughtfully.
So it’s strange, then, that the majority of people in the world haven’t ever considered the Web browser on their computer or mobile phone — that so many people every day use the browser that comes by default.
It’s an important choice because the Web browser has become one of the most critical and trusted relationships of our modern lives – with nearly perfect knowledge of everything we do. It is the lens through which we look at the virtual world, and the medium by which we connect, learn, share, and collaborate. The browser you choose is responsible for providing you with the necessary tools to manage your online life, and to protect your privacy and security.
And so we’re pleased to support the European Commission and Microsoft in also recognizing how important choice is. In accordance with a landmark settlement, if you’re using a Windows PC in Europe and you’re still using the default Web browser, in the coming weeks and months you’ll see a Browser Choice screen appear. That screen will provide you the opportunity to make an active choice in the source of the software that acts on your behalf to broker your online experiences, and meet your own unique needs and interests.
As an international non-profit organization, Mozilla has always believed that the freedom to make smart choices should be central to making the Web, and the world, a better place. This shows through with Mozilla Firefox, a free, open-source Web browser that more than 350 million people around the world have chosen to use every day. Values of choice and self-determination are built into everything that we do, including Firefox.
We believe that the Browser Choice screen is an important milestone towards helping more people take control of their online lives — and we hope for the conversation to become broader and deeper. We’ve set up opentochoice.org as one place for you to discuss what this choice means to you — and we hope that you’ll add your own voice to this conversation and those to come.
Whether or not you decide to keep your current Web browser, we encourage you to learn more about your browser and the impacts it has on the way you see the world, and to make your own choice.
Mitchell Baker, Mozilla Chair & John Lilly, Mozilla CEO
Taken from:
www.opentochoice.org
While I too believe in “choice” being extremely important – I am after all a huge Open Source advocate – I find it ridiculous that you find shoving choice down someones throat and ruining a user experience is the right step forward.
Not a chance.
Until all OSs and Mobile phones offer a choice, I don’t buy this at all.
Hell, Wall-mart has a monopoly where I live but I don’t see them advertising all the smaller stores in my town, even if those other stores sell better products.
It’s sad to see a agenda pushed instead of the true well being of customers and what they want. Maybe the crap of IE is good enough for them…. did we ever think about that?
I drive an old car, because it’s what is comfortable to me, stop pushing a BMW in my face.
Sad.
Yeah, maybe IE is good for them, but we just want to make them know that they should choose.
But *why* should they have to choose? Why should they have to care? As a user of Firefox and Linux, I certainly don’t deny that having choices is a good thing. But forcing people to make choices? I think that’s wrong.
You shouldn’t think of that like of a forcing people to choose, but rather of giving them opportunity to choose. Also, a lot of people out there are unaware of all bad things about the software they’re using, and you must agree that educating people is a good thing.
Even if you don’t agree, IMHO it’s always better to make them choose then make them use something they might not agree with.
They already have an opportunity to choose every second of the day, even if they don’t know it. Educating people that choice exists is a good thing, but that’s where the line should be. Once educated, they can do whatever they want – including not caring in the slightest.
Having a opportunity while not being aware of it, makes it call into question.
i am glad today
I completely agree that choice is important, and I’m glad Mozilla agrees with me.
That’s why I hope to see a search engine select screen appear when I start the next version of Firefox – offering a choice between Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com, and smaller search engines like DuckDuckGo.