Google’s AutoText vs. Microsoft’s SmartTags

Scoble has been ranting about how evil Google’s new AutoText feature in the new version of its toolbar is. I think he’s way off base on this one, and here’s why (I posted the following as a comment in one of his posts about the matter):

SmartTags were, in fact, evil – not because of what they did, but because the user had no real choice in the matter. They were to be a pre-installed “feature” of the pre-installed browser on the most common operating system on the planet. Microsoft was proven in court to have been evil in its approach to the browser wars; SmartTags was an extension of that mindset.

AutoText, while not my preference, is in no way evil. Why? Because I don’t have to do anything to avoid being affected by it. I simply don’t install Google’s toolbar.

It’s simply the whole opt-in, opt-out argument. Opt-in is fine; opt-out is evil.