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~Your Computer, And Blogger    

All of the companies that I've worked for in my history, which had computers, controlled everything rather tightly. Businesses do that. With the big computers, aka mainframes, we as programmers would write code. Then we would test the code. Then we would give the code to a computer operator, who would run the code as a job. And we as programmers would train the computer operators from time to time.

And all code ran on company computers, over company owned and controlled networks, by company trained personnel. Every change was made, and tested, by people working for the company. Very tightly focused, and controlled.

That was up to 30 years ago.

Enough history.

Now, we have Blogger. Blogger owns thousands of computers (aka "servers"). Those computers are

  • Operated by millions of operators that Blogger neither employs or knows (bloggers).
  • Operated from computers that Blogger doesn't own (personal computers owned by bloggers).
  • Operated thru networks that neither Blogger nor the bloggers control, and running software produced by neither Blogger nor the bloggers.


Many of these millions of bloggers have no concept of computer or network management; some know just enough to turn their computers on.

Strangely, most bloggers think that Blogger is responsible for all problems with blogger "owned" computers. This is despite their, as I mention above, being used from computers that Blogger doesn't own or control, over networks that they don't control or support. And occasionally, a blogger "owned" computer can become controlled by a third party.

And very few bloggers consider the fact the Blogger provides them use of the Blogger computers, without charging them directly for the service. I say "directly", intentionally, because Blogger is not a non-profit organisation. Nor do they operate at a financial loss. Blogger, and their parent company Google, make a very nice profit, and much of that thanks to the efforts from their millions of users.

All of the financial issues aside, most bloggers lack understanding of who is responsible for ensuring that Blogger code runs successfully on their computers. They seem to think that Blogger supports their computers, and there is part of The Problem.

Now, Blogger / Google, big company though they be, and benevolently offering the use of their computers to everyone worldwide though they do, needs to accept some responsibility for dealing with their users more consistently. I will keep saying that, and writing the same.

Blogger controls and supports the Blogger computers. They don't control your computer, nor how you use it. Nor should they. Very few bloggers do nothing but blog, and very few computers owned or used by the bloggers are used for nothing but blogging.

One of my theories about computers is that, outside large corporations with a very anal Corporate Security Policy, there are not any two computers in the entire world that are identical.

Bloggers absolutely must take responsibility for their computers, and for ensuring that Blogger code runs successfully on their computers. And they need to also take responsibility for the fact that they use the Blogger computers over networks that Blogger / Google does not own or control. Blogger does not have the resources, nor the moral or legal mandate, to support your computer, nor the networks that you use to access the Blogger computers.

Yet, the first time that someone can't access their blog, or post to it, or view someone else's blog, what do we hear?
Is Blogger down again??

or
If Blogger can do that, surely it can do this too!!?? WTF not! I'm going to find another blog provider, that can do this, that, and everything else. And it better be free too!!!


Never a thought of
What did I just change on my computer, to prevent Blogger from working?

or
Maybe I shouldn't have loaded that software. It's interfering with Blogger.


It's more normally
What did Blogger break again??


Please, be aware of problems which are your responsibility. And carefully and discretely examine the universal nature of your symptoms, before claiming that there is a Global problem with Blogger.

 

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