I don't think you're splitting hairs at all -- it's a good question. Blocking cookies isn't going to make your computer more secure -- they are just text files. But if you're concerned about privacy, that's when you may want to block or delete cookies, as they can be used to track which pages you viewed on a site, which products you bought, and so ...

Interesting point re: leading a horse to water, but perhaps the horse doesn't know it wants water until it stumbles across the lake?Re: spyware, that's something I've been thinking about, too. Many web sites have a privacy policy page that explains how they use cookies, but since you have to actively click the link to the page (as opposed to ...

I follow your theory, but I think receptivity is a much more complicated subject, which I am sure you appreciate from your position as editor. You can go for all kinds of tactics to try to load the odds, but as the adage says you can lead the horse to the water... Talking about receptivity and my example of spyware, I knew that Vista was making ...