IA and Marketing Sneezers (was Re: [Sigia-l] Site registration

[Skot Nelson]

On Aug-25-2005, at 9:55 PM, Alexander Johannesen wrote:

> On 8/26/05, Skot Nelson <skot at penguinstorm.com> wrote:
>
>> I fail to understand people who won't register for the New York
>> Times. All that good content (especially those Jayson Blair
>> articles :D) for the simple exchange of some information. I'm onside.
>
> I'm crazy enough not to want to register, so I'll tell it from my  
> angle;

I don't think it's crazy. I just think - it's the Times man - for  
free. But then I'm a news junkie.

> other news-outlets will tell, and so forth. I have no need to be the
> first to hear about some new fadangled thing; my life does not depend
> on it.

emphasis on some.

some things, i like to be first.

>  Links I have to stop
> three seconds and fiddle with username and password (even if I'm using
> Opera and can make this automatic!) it's simply not worth my time.

right. and a i neglected a key point of why the times works for me....

they drop a cookie.

i've probably entered my username no more than a dozen times. maybe  
two dozen. when i switch computers, start a new job, change browsers.  
most of the time the cookie just sits there.

i perceive no evil in cookies. except macadamia nut and white  
chocolate ones - those are evil personified.

i am, in fact, astounded by a friend who is a technical writer who  
gets annoyed with the times. the reason: she dumps her cookies  
completely once a month.

> The latest service I'm developing for where I work has anonymous
> access, registered access, registered internal access and staff
> access, plus admin access. We show everything, but show you the full
> details (and links) if you've got the access rights to certain
> resources.

right. i like this. and properly done, with the right business model  
it can lead to great success.

i just don't think registration is universally bad. i am, however,  
careful who i give my information too.