So frustrated to see how this conversation is playing out. This is exactly what people have been asking for but all anybody can seem to see is "AI" in the headline.
This pivot is about refocusing on:
The Browser
Privacy
Ethical AI
This seems like a much better position for Mozilla to operate from, particularly because they've excelled at producing ethical SOTA ML for YEARS before ChatGPT. In all, this seems far more forward looking than the previous strategy of "make weird little web tools to make money maybe" and it's an absolutely massive untapped niche, that they already have the talent to tap into. If we punish the players best positioned to shift the industry standard away from extreme and exploitative data collection, we will end up in exactly the Orwellian AI hellscape that we're all so afraid of.
It is a better position and FF is going to be even better because of it. We need more options than just chromium. Open web standards dont stay open when everyone congregates.
No one asked for the shitty LLMs masquerading as AI. However, an AI that can do specialized things to help people out in day to day tasks would be great.
to be fair, most people aren't using physical keyboards with their phones, this mostly applies to tablets (which are much less popular) and android tv (where firefox isn't even officially supported anymore)
anyway, even without that issue, the android version of firefox is kinda janky and regularly gets stuck while loading websites
bt keyboards can be absolutelly critical for some users with disabilities. most of the developing world can't afford to own several devices like a computer and a phone.
They're not adding ai to Firefox, at least that's not what the memo said, the memo said they were refocusing on Firefox (firing people who worked on their metaverse thing for example), and doing so on the side.
They specifically stated that Firefox mobile is a big focus moving fowards
I get that people are upset, because this fucking buzzword is haunting us. I'm just hoping that they don't jump on that BS-bandwaggon and create something actually useful. But we'll see I guess ...
Yeah, it's a hate-train for AI, I definitely get it, but Mozilla seems to be using it for actually useful things. Offline translation and fake reviewing checking for Amazon are pretty cool, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not brand loyal, and I'm ready to jump ship to a FLOSS alternative as soon as they do something stupid. I'll just keep using Firefox until they do.
LoL, and I had been contemplating switching to Firefox on my phone. Fucking nope! Not gonna board a ship that has decided to follow the pack into the ice...
I'm using chrome on phone, because it's basically part of the operating system, but I did like Fennec. It's a fork of Firefox mobile with a few more privacy features (or so they advertise)
I did address that. I am fully aware of Brave's faults. But the benefits to me outweigh the negatives. Besides which, there isn't a browser in existence that doesn't collect data on you. Not unless you go ahead and compile your own. So I choose the one that is blatantly not following the rules and allows me some leeway to enjoy the web the way I like. It's also not the only browser on my phone. Chrome is obviously still here but so is Duckduckgo and I do have Firefox on here even though I never actually use it.
Cromite and Fennec I've seen and don't trust their security at all. Better the devil you know and all that. But Iceraven is new to me and will have to look into that one. So thanks
Jumping ship means trying to go in a different direction. I'm not gonna upheave my entire online presence just to get onboard with a company who is not only going the same way, but is woefully behind in the race to go that way.
