Here's a tip. If you really want to annoy me. I mean REALLY get under my skin. Leave a comment or send an e-mail that says something like this...
"You totally missed the point"
Now, I've been known to miss a point or two in my day, I won't deny that. But nothing is more obnoxious than someone leaving a message saying "you missed the point" and then not explaining what the point was that I missed.
It's just rude.
I've gotten a few such messages in regards to my post on Facebook connect so I thought I should address what I think the issue is. Though I want to point out that any ignorance in the following text is not my fault but the fault of those who didn't see fit to explain exactly what they meant in their e-mails.
(OK, maybe a little my fault for not wanting to dignify their rude e-mails with a reply, but mostly their fault)
That said, I think the point they refer to is that Facebook Connect is more than an authentication system in that it's also what some would call a "revolutionary ad platform." To quote Om Malick...
In addition to offering a simple authentication method, FC allows granular social interactions to be embedded in non-Facebook services. If Facebook can work with its partners to build interesting use-case scenarios that go beyond simple sign-on, it is quite feasible that Facebook can out-execute Google, MySpace and everyone else with its ID ambitions.
Why? Because this is their one chance of building a monetization engine. The company makes no bones about trying to build a platform that allows it to offer branded advertising in a manner akin to Google’s Adsense. A simpler person (like yours truly) would call this a platform that serves ads for all occasions, reasons and seasons.
In response to that I have a couple points...
1. Read My Original Post. The point I made there is that no one is going to use the authentication features of Facebook Connect. If no one uses the authentication than the ad platform is useless because it can only collect info from users it can identify. As for "granular social interactions" I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't think there's that much valuable information contained in a Facebook profile and I think the company's failures in the ad space so far verify that skepticism.
2. This isn't revolutionary, Amazon's been doing it for years and it really doesn't seem to work. This is one of those ideas that seems really smart in theory but anyone who has watched their Amazon home page knows it isn't because information without context is useless.
In other words, Amazon doesn't know that I bought lingerie for my girlfriend last month and not myself. So now I'm getting solicited for Women's magazines and cosmetic products on my Amazon page that I have no interest in.
Anyway, those two reasons are why I didn't address the issue earlier. I wasn't missing the point I just didn't think this particular point was relevant given my feelings toward the authentication scheme and the system's potential in general.