This weekend, for my Tech
class, I researched XMark, a browser configuration synchronizer.
What, you may ask, is that? It syncs browser configuration, as you
may have guessed. What it all boils down to is that it syncs your
bookmarks, passwords and browser history across internet-devices and
browsers. It also has the option of showing you information about
websites: brief descriptions, tags, ratings, reviews, and a list of
the “Top 5 similar sites.”
Ok, so far so good. We
know what it does. The next
question is why – as
in Why should I use it? I understand syncing bookmarks
– I would find it really useful to have access to all my
school-related bookmarks at the university libraries, or frankly
anywhere. And I can see the point of having a shared bookmark folder
of vegetarian recipes, for example, that everyone in a cooperative
house could have access to – a great resource for new co-oppers who
may not have a vegetarian recipe repertoire outside of tomato soup
and grilled cheese sandwiches (true story.) So I'm on board as far as
the bookmarks come in. Even passwords I can understand, especially
seeing as they're optional. In any case, you can create a separate
profile that only you can use, so that you can stay signed in to
FaceBook and your grandma's NetFlix account on both your laptop and
your Kindle Fire, without suddenly opening that access to everyone
you're sharing cooking websites with.
But why on earth would
you want to sync your browser history? I regularly use private
browsing, even though I hardly use any sites besides email, FaceBook
and CTools. I don't need anyone who borrows my laptop to go into my
history and see just how often I've checked my email in a given day
to see if Daniel Brühl has reconsidered my marriage proposal
(spoiler alert: he probably hasn't.) The idea of sharing your browser
history ON PURPOSE just seems strange.
The biggest issue,
though, has nothing to do with syncing. It's the search engine that
comes with it. When you search a topic using XMark, it gives you a
list of the top ten rated sites. This doesn't exactly filter new
content out, but it certainly buries it under the current
“favorites.” Even the top ten isn't the worst, though. The most
problematic feature, in my opinion, is the list of the “top five
similar sites” that pop up whenever you type in an address. How are
do they determine what is “similar” and what isn't? What's being
filtered out?
I was talking with my
brother the other day, and he mentioned that NetFlix and Spotify are
the perfect sites to make sure you never see or hear anything new
again. Let's say you really liked “PowerMan: Car Chases and
Explosions,” so you rate it highly on NetFlix. They're going to
recommend “PowerMan III: Even More Explosions,” “PowerPrequel:
How PowerMan Became Powerful,” and “Superman II: Electric
Boogaloo.” Over the next couple of weeks, you'll watch these films,
presumably rate them highly, and NetFlix will keep recommending
Superhero flicks. Great! You never have to watch anything even a
little different again! This isn't just a trend with films and music.
We also do this with politics – who hasn't blocked or unsubscribed
from a friend on FaceBook to avoid reading their political opinions?
But do we really want a web add-on that encourages you to limit your
research as well? If I'm reading about a debate regarding teaching
world languages only in those languages, or mixing in some
first-language instruction, I'd like to see research about all sides
of the issue, thank you very much.
XMarks may be free
(mostly), but even so, I'm not sure it's worth the price.
I really like the debate that arises in your post. On the one hand syncing allows you to find things similar to stuff you've been researching or liked. I know I have a variety of Pandora radio channels and I love having the ability to add variety, like or dislike a song playing, and hear new artists I didn't know about before. However, this is a completely separate context from finding useful information. I can relate to the Netflix example, it's especially frustrating with the new commercials that pop up on Facebook. It's like every website you go on knows what other websites you've been on and what you've looked at or bought (not to sound like one of those conspiracy theorists or anything) and it's so annoying! I like having the option of seeing what's similar to things I've bought or looked at, but I don't want to miss out on other things and be bogged down by the same information again and again.
ReplyDeleteXmarks was not one of the pieces of technology that was presented in my group last week, so I was interested to read about it here. After reading your post, I think I'm on the same page as you. I shop on Amazon a lot, and there is a feature called "Erin's Amazon.com" where they make recommendations for new things to buy based on my prior purchases. This sounds nice, but I have actually come to hate it. I once ordered a LEGO pirate ship as a gift for someone else, and LEGO sets and similar toys appeared on my "Erin's Amazon.com" page for over a year afterward. I bought a pair of Reebok shoes about a year ago, and Amazon is still recommending I purchase what seems like EVERY Reebok shoe they have to offer. Most recently, I ordered all of my textbooks for the summer, and my top recommendations are now an endless list of books about teaching. Thanks, but I think I'm good for now. Don't even get me started on the new "categories" feature on G-mail. There isn't even an option to disable it! It's insulting that they think they know what I need more than I do!
ReplyDeleteI think it's fairly common for technology to promise to make life easier/better and actually make it worse. I have to be careful not to be too cynical about it, though. I don't want to be one of those stubborn old ladies who talks about all the "useless gadgets" the kids are using these days and refuses to try anything new. I will, however, continue to approach everything with a healthy amount of skepticism. That's just what I do.