By Bruce A. Love
Christmastime can be a very fattening time of the year. It's hard to avoid all the goodies that are given to us by well-meaning family, friends, and co-workers. For me, cookies are probably my greatest temptation - one that usually wins out over my will to avoid fattening foods. As a result, I usually put on a few extra pounds each year during the holiday season.
If you spend any amount of time online, you have probably received some cookies over the Internet too - particularly if you do any shopping online. The cookies I am referring to are virtual cookies. These do not add inches to your waist, but can make your online shopping a sweeter experience.
Many people are afraid of Internet cookies. The bad rap that Internet cookies have received comes from a lack of understanding of what these digital morsels can and cannot do. The fact of the matter is without cookies, e-stores would be less personalized, and shopping online would be a lot more difficult!
A cookie is a small text file, which a Web server can store on a user's hard drive when the user visits a particular Web site. This allows the Web store (located on a Web server) to store information about users on the user's PC, and retrieve that information at a later time (when a user revisits the Web site). Cookies are not programs, not viruses, and do not gather personal information from other parts of your computer. The information that a server can retrieve from a cookie on someone's computer is limited to the information that that server previously placed in the cookie. This information can only be retrieved by the Web site that placed the cookie on the PC.
The text in a cookie contains information stored in name-value pairs. The names are chosen by the developer of the Web site, and represent some piece of information needed by the store. The value is some alphanumeric value associated with that name. These may change each time a user visits the store. At a minimum, the cookie usually contains a name that retains a user identification number assigned by the store for the customer (or more specifically, the customer's computer). For entities other than the e-store that places this info into the cookie, this alphanumeric value is pure gibberish. To see an example of what gets stored in a cookie, sign into any Web store, and type the following into the address bar at the top of the page: Javascript:alert(document.cookie). If you are in a store that I've designed, this information is usually relatively short. If you are on Amazon.com (the online book retailer), the information contained in the cookie can be quite lengthy.
Internet cookies come in different flavors, and some contain much more information than others. The two main varieties are "session cookies" and "persistent cookies." Session cookies are used to keep track of what you place in your online shopping cart so that you can checkout of the e-store with everything you placed in your cart. Session cookies are removed after leaving the e-store. "Persistent cookies" are placed on your computer's hard drive and used to remember things about you for the next time you visit a store. These will remain on your hard drive indefinitely, or until you remove them manually or with software designed for that purpose. If a user provides their name, address, and other information during a visit to an online store, this info could be accessed by using values saved in a persistent cookie. Web sites look for cookies on customers' PCs that have been previously deposited by their store. If found, the cookie's value is used to search the store's online database to learn of details about the previous visits. This is so that a customized shopping experience can be offered to the customer. I see evidence of persistent cookies on Amazon.com when I am greeted with "Hello Bruce Love! See what recommendations we have for you." Amazon watches everything you do in their store so they can try to recommend books that they believe match your shopping habits.
Online shopping can be a very enjoyable and secure shopping alternative. One precaution you should always take when purchasing from e-stores is to avoid using a computer that is located in a public setting - like an Internet café or library. Your cookies and your information could be viewed by others. If the thought of Internet cookies still makes your tummy queasy, it is easy to disable them (if you are using Internet Explorer, click "Tools" on the menu bar, select "Internet Options," and set "Privacy" to the highest setting). Unfortunately, if you do, you most likely will not be able to purchase items online.
Love Lines
Love Lines is a blog for business and technology discussion.
Many of the entries are columns written by
Bruce or Kären Love.
Click on
"Comments" or any title below to post
comments on any entry.
« Use career milestones and critiques to re-energize your career |
Main
| Use blogs to communicate with friends and customers »
Cookies can make online shopping a sweeter experience!
Search
About
This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 6, 2006 5:54 PM.
The previous post in this blog was Use career milestones and critiques to re-energize your career.
The next post in this blog is Use blogs to communicate with friends and customers.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
Love Lines is a blog for business and technology discussion.
Many of the entries are columns written by
Bruce or Kären Love.
Click on
"Comments" or any title below to post
comments on any entry.
« Use career milestones and critiques to re-energize your career | Main | Use blogs to communicate with friends and customers »
Cookies can make online shopping a sweeter experience!
Search
About
This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on January 6, 2006 5:54 PM.
The previous post in this blog was Use career milestones and critiques to re-energize your career.
The next post in this blog is Use blogs to communicate with friends and customers.
Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.
