Satellite images both. Which isn't what LiveJournal links to. If I actually put Moscow or Paris as the text of my "current location" then I would get a link to a useless page.
And let's be clear here: I'm not saying that if some people can't use a feature then nobody should be able to. I'm saying that if there's a feature that only some people are able to use, it should be designed so it doesn't detract from things for those who can't use it.
Speaking for myself, I would much rather be able to enter plain text or links of my own, rather than having a link forced on me, especially if the link it gave was useless. I obviously haven't done any studies, but I would suspect that in countries not supported by google maps, many people wouldn't care either way, but of those who did care the vast majority would agree with me.
Of course, there are a whole lot of questions that follow on from that. How much does it detract from the feature for those people not covered by google maps? Is the agravation it would cause large enough to be worth doing anything over? Is the aggravation for these people outweighed by the axtra feature available for people in areas that are covered? Does it make better business sense to focus more on the core customer base (the USA) or try to ensure increasing appeal for users in other countries? Would the amount of effort required to program a fix to allow some people to use the feature but others to not have to be worth it?
And so on and so forth. And to these questions, I don't know the answers. It's perfectly possible that with all different considerations factored in, the current solution is the optimal. My wild guess is that it isn't, but that is only a wild guess. However, I do think that there is a genuine issue which shouldn't just be written off as "silly" or "sour grapes".
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Date: 2006-03-30 04:30 pm (UTC)And let's be clear here: I'm not saying that if some people can't use a feature then nobody should be able to. I'm saying that if there's a feature that only some people are able to use, it should be designed so it doesn't detract from things for those who can't use it.
Speaking for myself, I would much rather be able to enter plain text or links of my own, rather than having a link forced on me, especially if the link it gave was useless. I obviously haven't done any studies, but I would suspect that in countries not supported by google maps, many people wouldn't care either way, but of those who did care the vast majority would agree with me.
Of course, there are a whole lot of questions that follow on from that. How much does it detract from the feature for those people not covered by google maps? Is the agravation it would cause large enough to be worth doing anything over? Is the aggravation for these people outweighed by the axtra feature available for people in areas that are covered? Does it make better business sense to focus more on the core customer base (the USA) or try to ensure increasing appeal for users in other countries? Would the amount of effort required to program a fix to allow some people to use the feature but others to not have to be worth it?
And so on and so forth. And to these questions, I don't know the answers. It's perfectly possible that with all different considerations factored in, the current solution is the optimal. My wild guess is that it isn't, but that is only a wild guess. However, I do think that there is a genuine issue which shouldn't just be written off as "silly" or "sour grapes".