[Sigia-l] proffing user's location

[Christopher Gomez]

//SNIP/Ken Bryson//
>Why don't you just ask the user where they are?
>
>I'd say most dead-end-users at least know what country they're in..
//SNIP/Ken Bryson//

Well it seems like a very simple solution, Ken, but most users don't want to tell companies about themselves. Javier didn't make it clear if the system generates a form that a user has to fill in at first, or even a JS or JAVA popup box that requires the end-users input.

On the point about end-users not wanting to tell where they're from - well, even if a product/service will benefit them with the added customization/localization, they generally don't care. There are reasons why they choose to be the way they are and it's best to not get into that right now. :)

Anyway, I'm assuming that Javier is talking about a system that's able to figure out where you're logging in from automatically. Actually there are tools that allow you to do that.

Country Hawk is just one such tool. I haven't used it so I can't give you any comments. But the site really needs a revamp. phooo-ey!

http://www.cyscape.com/products/country/intro.asp

Javier, your tech team is   w  r  o  n  g.   :)    It *can* be done via IP.  Though, there may be some flaws.

Now,  without sounding technical... I can dial up from the US, and tunnel from one place to another. I could even be dialing up to/through  my VPN/Intranet/LAN/two-cans-and-a-string-network   in, say Germany, and therefore registering a  dot DE (.de) based IP and when I'm actually an employee who's a native of and located in Algeria. Of course if he's a native of France who's located in Algeria... then you've got a bigger headache of finding out if your company should give him the French "treatment" or Algerian "treatment".  :)

Then again, IP allocations have a tendency take "some" time to update and may represent you with wrong IP information.

Issues like the ones above, alone, are capable of giving your users relatively lousy UX.

Of course I'm aware that there are other companies out there working on refining this technology but for now... I would not advice having such a capability for systems yet, especially systems that run time- or life- critical applications.

Best wishes,
Christopher Gomez
www.radicate.com
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