On Tue, Jan 27, 2009 at 5:50 PM, Russell Senior <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>>>> "Michael" == Michael Weinberg <[email protected]> writes: > > Russell> One thing I don't like about the white-listing idea is that > Russell> it will have the tendency to mask problems we really would be > Russell> better off solving. > > Michael> I'm not sure how we fix devices that can't browse getting > Michael> through, [...] > > What wifi devices these days don't have a browser? The iphone does. > What real, in-the-wild device doesn't?
I'm not sure, but the complaint that made me revisit this idea was specifically about a phone that did not have a browser. > Michael> Registering/Whitelisting is nice because it fulfills the > Michael> desire for people to be aware of us and it seamlessly allows > Michael> things to go through that we want to go through, while > Michael> leaving splash for everything/one else. > > I'm not against whitelisting, per se. I'm just afraid that if we > whitelist to solve a few peoples problems, then the underlying > fail-itude won't get solved (and everyone not in the whitelist will > still be screwed). Let's solve the fail first, then implement the > whitelist if it still makes any sense. Fixing the fail pays way > bigger dividends. I realize there are some fails that have resulted in complaints about the captive portal, and I agree we should fix those. I'm speaking to the larger issue of "wouldn't it be nice." The iPhone, while it has a browser (and a good one at that), is still a phone and not a computer. You can't really use the browser alongside another application, so being able to skip the splash would be a real convenience. Similarly, the iPhone (and I'm guessing most WiFi enabled phones) opportunistically hops onto familiar WiFi networks, taking the 3G offline. This results in data drops and unfortunate redirects when if you pass a PTP node. It's not the end of the world, and I wouldn't call it a fail on PTP's part, it's just a reality of the limitations inherent in the device. Since we can do something about it, and encourage more involvement in PTP at the same time, I think it's worth considering. -- Michael Weinberg President Personal Telco Project, Inc. A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ The Personal Telco Project - http://www.personaltelco.net/ Donate to PTP: http://www.personaltelco.net/donate Archives: http://news.gmane.org/gmane.network.wireless.portland.general/ Etiquette: http://www.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/MailingListEtiquette List information: http://lists.personaltelco.net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
