> It seems to me that an outcome more in-line with Mozilla's stated mission 
> would be to publish a save-for-later API, integrate it into Firefox Sync, and 
> make it possible for Firefox users to point their browsers' built-in 
> save-for-later list at third-party services that implement the API.  It could 
> even become a federated API, potentially integrating the variety of 
> incompatible read-it-later-type services that exist.


I agree.


> Imagine a certain web site or service released a new, JSON-based protocol 
> that combined HTTP, HTML, AJAX, maybe XUL or XSLT-type stuff, and released a 
> Firefox extension that let people access its site or services more quickly 
> than using HTTP/HTML/AJAX.  Now fast-forward a few years and it's very 
> popular (maybe it's something like Netflix, and it lets them implement their 
> UI more easily, or lock it down more than an HTML UI).  Would Mozilla then 
> integrate it directly into Firefox?  It seems like the principle is the same.


The rationale behind Pocket was "We're working on a 'save' feature anyway, why 
duplicate the work of something that already exists?". Intentions are 
important; the intention protects us from the slippery slope argument you're 
making.

> And when viewed together with the EME situation, the trend toward integrating 
> proprietary software and services is also concerning. 

Let's not bring EME into this. EME was something which was standardized -- a 
battle Mozilla lost.



=================


I'm also a tad annoyed by Pocket integration. I don't mind it shipping with 
Firefox, but I'd rather prefer it be off by default. Even better would be a 
privileged addon. This is because Pocket is a third party service and not 
everyone who uses Firefox because they trust Mozilla will check if it's a third 
party service before using it. By integrating Pocket, Mozilla effectively makes 
Pocket its weakest link in the trust scene; which isn't good.



Note that some of the arguments made about Pocket (and Hello) elsewhere on the 
Internet are fallacious:

 - There's no way to disable it: You can drag the button off using the 
Customize button. Firefox UI components are lazy loaded.
 - It adds to the bloat. Neither Pocket nor Hello are heavy. Pocket is a bunch 
of HTTP calls; Hello is a wrapper around WebRTC -- an open protocol with an 
open implementation that all browsers are supposed to support. These are really 
small droplets in the memory usage story.
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