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RE: A big brother moment? email reminders of what you haven't done
Subject:RE: A big brother moment? email reminders of what you haven't done From:"Connie Giordano" <connie -at- therightwordz -dot- com> To:"'Fred Ridder'" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:16:19 -0400
It most certainly does have to do with technical communication.
Understanding how to build and design content that is customized without
invading your privacy seems to me to be a ripe topic for TC. Amazon is only
one among many companies that use technologies that compile much more data
on us than they probably should. Maybe the question should be rephrased,
when do we go from "enriched shopping experience" to invasion of privacy and
manipulation?
Perhaps your definition of TC happens to be narrower than others, but I
don't plan to engage in a definition war, I was merely looking for other
viewpoints on a topic that is practical, relevant, and just hit home for me
in the past few days.
Connie Giordano
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+connie=therightwordz -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+connie=therightwordz -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Fred Ridder
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 3:05 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: RE: A big brother moment? email reminders of what you haven't done
Responding to Connie Giordano, David Downing wrote:
> This sort of thing bothers me as well. I specially am not always happy
with the way Amazon.com keeps track of what you've bought, and even what
you've looked at, to make recommendations for you. I don't like the idea
that someone is looking over my shoulder, keeping track of my habits, and
reminding me of them. It especially bothers me when I'm just looking at
something in passing that maybe I don't want to be reminded of later, and
definitely don't want to be reminded of over and over again.
So if you don't like the way Amazon tries to enrich your shopping experience
by anticipating the kinds of products you might want to buy, the answer is
simple: don't use Amazon. Other than the Kindle, there is not a single
product they sell that is not available elsewhere, usually for a competitive
price. Vote with your pocketbook.
Not that this topic has anything to do with technical communications...
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor, Microsoft Word or
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. http://www.doctohelp.com
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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