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by hafta 3077 days ago
> How sure are you that you won't end up with a whole bunch of hot chocolate that nobody wants? What is the waste factor when the extra work is done unnecessarily?

This is one of the things telemetry data can be used for. We can include telemetry probes in the browser that tell us what percentage of the time users end up switching tabs after hovering. Then we can make informed decisions about whether the feature is worth the extra complexity (and CPU cycles) before any development work is done. As far as tailoring the feature to individual browsing habits, telemetry could inform whether or not that would be worth implementing.

1 comments

And I guess this wouldn't be possible with opt-in telemetry?
Not reliably, as only power users will ever even consider opting into telemetry (or changing pretty much any setting for that matter). And power users generally have a much clearer layout of the tabs in their mind and will always go straight up and click, rather than ruffling through the tabs for a second. Or something like that. You get the idea, behavior here is simply different for power users and those are who you'll reach with opt-in telemetry.

Also has to be asked, though, what's the point in making this opt-in? Is it in any way sensitive information whether you click after hovering a tab? I also prefer being more cautious than is necessary, because sometimes there just is some privacy implication you didn't think of, but with this the risk seems incredibly low and they do have a clearly defined use for the telemetry.