Re: transcoders bad

Hi, I'm another spectator here, but I think you are conflating a
couple issues here.

It sounds like you wish to simply not have your site transcoded, which
makes sense because you have created a mobile-oriented site. Have you
read the guidelines? what do you think about the protocols it
described for telling a transcoder not to take action? I (and Google)
support this sort of approach, for what it's worth. I believe that
directly addresses your concern.

But you bring up modifying User-Agent, which is something else. If a
request via a transcoder does not change the User-Agent header, then
your site will not have a way of knowing it is talking to a
transcoder. You can't tell it to go away, return an error, and worse,
you will submit your mobile content to the transcoder -- all because
it lied and said it's a phone. At least, I would be interested to hear
how you propose to work around this problem then... because we do
modify User-Agent, because of problems like this.


Sites should certainly have access to all the information in the
original request. Have you read the part of the guidelines about
preserving the original header, if it is modified, via something like
an X-Device-User-Agent header? the recommendations indeed say that
User-Agent information should be preserved.

I think you agree with the guidelines and suggest you read them
further and send more comments to this list.




On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 6:19 PM, Terren Suydam
<terren@singleclicksystems.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> As the technical lead for SingleClick Systems mobile development, I'm
> writing to protest the W3C's failure to provide a clear rule against the
> modification of the User-Agent header.
>
> As mobile developers, my team spends a lot of time creating the mobile
> experience *we* want our users to see. If our users are subjected to the
> confusing experience of transcoding, we lose money.
>
> I urge the W3C to adopt the standards set forth by Luca Passani's Manifesto,
> of which I'm sure you're aware.
>
> Sincerely,
> Terren Suydam
>
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 5 August 2008 02:58:24 UTC