Re: session-id redux

Brian writes:
> ...
> In fact, after reviewing all the messages posted about sessions and 
> cookies and privacy and such, it's become apparent that there is *no* 
> solution that makes everyone happy.  ...  - either 
> let's implement (or make a committment to implement) something, or decide 
> once and for all to chuck it and leave it to nonstandard practices.  
...
> Anyways, at this point I'm ready to throw in the towel and just go back 
> and tell the people screaming for this kind of functionality and go 
> "look, without intrusive measures like password protection or broken 
> mechanisms like session-ID-URL-munging or heuristics which work one day 
> and not the next, I just can't get that info for you with any reasonable 
> accuracy."  And then we'll see which path they choose.  
> 

I think that this is the situation for many of us. Clearly, many of those
whose energy and funding are driving the success of the Web require
what has been referred to as "Marketing fluff".

If the purpose of the "world of Internet protocols" is to further the
adoption of the Internet, then how can we avoid this area? I would much
rather rely on a less than ideal standard than get tied into a vendor
specific session-ID-URL-munging system. Either way, like Brian, I will 
have to choose soon.

Regards,
Dave Hollander


PS. The notion that the browser user can receive no value from sessioning
systems just does not cut it in the real world. Think about the all of
the vendor/customer relationships that take place daily and which ones stand
out in your mind. Chances are it is a personal touch that made a difference.

We can't do that with the web, but sessioning gives us a start. Particularly
if the sessions can be associated with user profile or other data. If anybody 
is interested, I could try to list what benefits I would hope to get from a 
extensible sessioning standard. They go far beyond the current "clickstream"
discussion.

Please, do something, and make that something extensible. Give us publishers 
another tool to use in our efforts to make our sites more valuable.

Received on Wednesday, 26 July 1995 11:00:27 UTC