still tracking

I'm so glad that they figured out how to post package tracking data on the web. Apple sent me an email linking to my fedex package tracking page.

I remember when we all first started talking about adding embedded objects on pages with web services, and we used UPS as a great example. The problem is that UPS and Fedex see embedding their information inside somebody else's page as taking traffic away from their page. So they won't open it up. Yeah, cause that's their business--driving web traffic to their site. Whatever.

But at least you can track it by linking to their site today with your tracking number. In the early days, they wouldn't even do that. You had to go to their page where they would give you an empty box, then you had copy and paste your forever long tracking number in there, and hit "submit".

How hard, really, would it be for them to make a web service that provided that same info as an html-rendered snippet that you could choose between several formats (all including the UPS or fedex logo as a graphic) and include in your own website? Not hard.

Well anyway, it's fun to see that the macbook pro that will adorn my desktop and coffee shops around the world was born in Shanghai, made it here by way of Anchorage, and hung out with some other macs in Memphis before heading my way.

Meanwhile, I'm heading to New York tomorrow with my daughter for a holiday. It's her birthday. Gonna catch Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, see the sights, and eat a hotdog off the street. Can't wait.