Google Analytics hates Safari

Wow. LD, you're like the little brother I can't stand. I had something to say; after reading your comments, I suddenly feel stupider.

I installed GA on they day they released it. And yeah, it works a lot more smoothly in Firefox, but it does "work" in Safari (or at least the latest version of Safari) but with workarounds. Besides, for accessible via browser, they've always gotten Safari support down eventually. It's things like Picassa and Hello where they're they're skimping on us, but Safari doesn't get the shaft. They just release early on FireFox and IE so they can start gathering feedback, then Safari gets released a short time later (GMail and Google Maps both gained Safari support within a few weeks, IIRC). So, you know, relax.

LD, Why are you here, on The Unofficial *Apple* Weblog? Somebody smells like a troll... or Your a "project manager" for Sony's rootkit technology and its been a rough couple of weeks for invasive hidden software.

My first post was meant to be childish because that's exactly how this article reads. The author can advocate anything he desires. As long as they leave it open for comments then I can reply as I desire.

LD, I know you said that you think web developers should develop with cross platform in mind, but you didn't answer my question: why? If Safari's marketshare is too low to expect one of the largest web companies in the world to develop for, what is the threshold of market penetration that you must reach before it makes sense to ensure your app works in? If you're going for lowest common denominator, then IE is what you should be programming for, and if it works in Mozilla based browsers that's a bonus. Right? I'm just going by the numbers here. Though, here's a crazy thought, if you develop your app with web standards in mind then it just works in lots of browsers (other than IE, oddly enough). Anywho, like henrrik says programming for Safari is more of a nod to WHO is using it, not how many.

A brief aside -- the original post claims that "Google Analytics Hates Safari." This is simply a colorful way of saying "The Google Analytics page doesn't work in Safari." It doesn't suggest the company as a whole "hates" Mac users, nor does it state that one cannot access the page via a Macintosh. The author's concluding statement, which I assume the brunt of LD's initial post was in reference to, appears to note that Safari is the sole browser on new Macs, making the service inaccessible without third-party software. LD, you must admit that your first post was rather childish. Further, if the author chooses to exercise his authority on this site to actively lobby for Safari support in Google projects, it is his prerogative. You are free to ignore such posts or the website as a whole. I understand your reasoning as to why Google would choose to ignore Safari compliance to begin with, however, a bit of activism certainly does not merit ridicule.

ANYWAY, back to the original question. :-) I have a friend who recently got hired at Google. He's a Mac user (and lover), Linux user and PC user too. When I asked why the dearth of Mac compatible services/tools, he said they have no Mac programmers. And that they really want them. At the rate Google is hiring, I'm not sure I can believe this, but this was his opinion. He told me that he wanted to request a new Powerbook from work, but everyone said they would expect him to start programming for the Mac. Apparently it's that sparse there.

I haven't looked into what is causing it, but I'd be surprised if fixing the Safari problem in Google Analytics took one of Google's engineers more than an hour. Quite a few web developers use macs, especially the early adopter types that are likely to test a service like GA, so I think it would make a lot of sense to for them to sort it out.

Why would you make such a silly point? That is not "my logic" as you have tried to repeatedly imply. No matter how many times you say it, it won't make it true. I think web developers should develop with cross platform compatability in mind. I've said this since my first reply. You have ignored it until now. Then you have taken it to a completely illogical conclusion by saying "only IE!" when no one but yourself has said that. Realistically, there are two browsers that developers should ensure their site works in, IE and Firefox/Mozilla. That is the minimum, anything above that is a bonus. That reaches the widest audience. If you want to go off into your little fantasy land and invent arguments to have with yourself, go for it. If you want to discuss this then let's do that. Until you want to actually discuss this, I'll leave you with the following: Oh, Scott McNulty, how can one come up with a response to such a cogent rebuttal to a post? Thanks for the insight, it has really made me rethink my position.

So your point about Firefox is that it is cross platform, so developers should support it, correct? My point is, why bother supporting platforms other than Windows?