2017-11-09

Yahoo and Facebook

Yahoo and Facebook

YAHOO

I am stunned. Every weekday for many years, I would go to Yahoo Finance, bring up a list of investments, export the end of day quotes to a CSV file (spreadsheet), copy it into a personal spreadsheet and display the current value of my assets.

But now Yahoo has deleted the export function. Why? Because people used it - "It has come to our attention that this service is being used in violation of the Yahoo Terms of Service. As such, the service is being discontinued." I thought I would explain to them that this is a unique and useful service. I have found no other company that offers this function. But I cannot find any feedback mechanism to explain this to Yahoo (I don't think this blog counts).

Incidentally, Yahoo, if you are wondering why business is bad, "Yahoo" is the dumbest web name that I have ever encountered. Look up the definition - "a boorish, crass, or stupid person".

FACEBOOK

Facebook for the desktop is an ergonomic nightmare.

"Return" ("Enter") is almost universally used for "new line" in editing text. But when writing a note on Facebook, it immediately sends the note. Facebook, are you trying to get me to embarrass myself by sending unfinished notes? Could you give me the option to turn this absurdity off.

Why can't I easily view hidden comments on discussions? You tell me how many new comments there are, but there is no way to view them without carefully showing every hidden section. Give me a button that displays an entire thread.

Hover windows - I'm reading a comment and the cursor happens to be on a name or picture. A couple of seconds later a window opens with information about that person. ON TOP of what I'm reading. This is ANNOYING. Why can't I turn it off?

Why can't I move the desktop messenger window? It covers things that I'm trying to read.

For a public group, why is a pinned post not displayed on a phone? If you need a post pinned to the top of a group, it needs to be there for everyone, not just the people on desktop computers.

Facebook sent me this notification not long ago - "Your new notifications are now sorted to help you see what's most important to you." Upon clicking on "Learn more" - "These notifications are listed by how relevant we think they are to you, so they may appear to be out of order." You think you know more about what is relevant to me than I do?

What is the difference between a Page and a Group? I don't know. I don't care. Why don't you have a "Organization" page that people can configure to their needs?

Why does Facebook block me from getting Facebook messages on my phone via my browser? And why does it no longer include the message text in the email notification. The Facebook Messenger app is ANNOYING - I will not keep it on my phone.

"Good afternoon, Cary!" - why do I care if Facebook wishes me a good afternoon? Why can't I turn this off?

AT LAST (October 2017) - instead of "Works at Retired", it says "Retired". "Works at Retired" had annoyed me for a year and a half.

Upon proofreading the above, I noticed a trend. I seem to be easily annoyed. Or maybe Facebook's software really is awful. Do the software engineers use this software? Perhaps they have their own special version and like to inflict pain on the rest of the world.

4 comments:

  1. This morning I learned that, on Facebook via phone, "Return" does not send a message. But it does on the desktop. ???

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FB obviously more about controlling us than serving us. Friends can be put into groups but groups cannot be managed, for instance. The app I'm convinced is all about accessing our phone data. And dont get me started on ads, google is listening to more than just our browser history and email content! Great blog! -Adam W.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just saw today's Dilbert - http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-11-14 .

      Yes, FB has a lot of strange or perverse behaviors. I didn't comment on a lot of them because I don't know exactly what they do and and didn't want to spend the time investigating. But wouldn't better ergonomics attract more users? Maybe they don't want users who can think. Thanks.

      Delete