- From: Simon Harper <simon.harper@manchester.ac.uk>
- Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 08:40:15 +0100
- To: WWW UAWG <w3c-wai-ua@w3.org>
Hi Everyone, So after the CG meeting yesterday - for which I had a none functioning mic - I was thinking more about our American Airlines - Angry Birds example. In that we think AA App is a UA while AB Game isn't. In reality, I think AB Game is an app but not a user agent. Now why is this? Well a UA is created from two words: A *user* of a system <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System> is a person who interacts with the system, to enable its operation <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation>, or to utilize its function. An *Agent* is one who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from him; one entrusted with the business of another. In this case, it seems clear that the AA App is acting for a user, or in the place of a user, by the users' authority. A user entrusts AA App with their business. The AB Game on the other hand does not posses these traits of being an agent of the user. I think we are having this problem due to the imprecise nature of the definition of application software - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_software It seems to me that we are also thinking about Apps outside of our definitions. So first of all is AA an UA - yes / is AB a UA - no (according to the definitions above). Next, how does AA manifest - is it a WebApp - yes as the UI is created by a UA rendering of HTML which facilitates interactivity. Is it a mobile UA - will at this point I don't know as I'm unsure as to the technology used in this case. Cheers -- Si. PS I check my email at 08:00 and 17:00 GMT. If you require a faster response please include the word 'fast' in the subject line. ======================= Simon Harper My Business Card - http://simon.harper.name/about/card/ Schedule a Meeting - http://doodle.com/simon.harper.name University of Manchester (UK) Web Ergonomics Lab - Information Management Group http://wel.cs.manchester.ac.uk
Received on Thursday, 20 June 2013 07:40:46 UTC