Brett_Tabke - 2:21 pm on May 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

> So, it's a proxy.

More accurately, it is a compressing proxy.

Dialups do not benefit because modern 56k modems all compress data to/from their isp anyway. The rest of the web is still stuck in the uncompressed dark ages of the 70's. A compressing proxy does indeed stand to speed up the web. One thing we know for absolute certainty is that bandwidth requirements and page sizes are going to increase. I believe average page sizes will increase 3 fold in the next 5 years.

I agree in principle with claus's feelings on the product, but I disagree on some of the specifics:

> a made up consumer need

I do think there is a small justifiable (aka: excuse) need to speed up the web. In theory, the web should have been 100% compressed data years ago, but we are still living out that 1960-70's uncompressed legacy. Compressing data - makes sense for all the major isps, and Google is just muscling in on that territory itself.

> Second, it is both a Scraper, and Spyware, and a Proxy.

How is it a scraper? I see it as a human still at the kb.
Spyware? Agreed, but that is not new - it is just *more* of the same thing they have with the toolbar and all their sources of data now.
Proxy? So what?

> it does not honor robots.txt

It is a proxy on behalf of a human, it isn't a bot.

> User-Agent string for that file.

It can't claus, it *has* to pass the UA unfettered.

> wastes your bandwidth.

Agreed. how much it uses is open for debate.

I think the take away here is that if everyone would just install GZip on their websites, we would have the same effect in ALL browsers and not just in IE/Moz.