So, yeah. Google released a limited beta of “Google+”, their answer to Facebook, this week. And some people on the Internet were creaming in their pants about it. Why?
Why is it that certain people seem to have this blind trust in Google? To these folks, Google wouldn’t ever do anything bad, ever. Not that I think Facebook is prefect by any means. But all Facebook knows about me is what I post, what my friends post, what I import onto my Wall (mainly this blog), and the relational aspects of my friends.
These are the people who scream bloody murder whenever Windows wants to phone home for updates… but the same sheeple who somehow see no problem with using Gmail, Google Talk, Google Voice, Google Apps and Google DNS. Windows just wants to see if its up to date; Google knows more about you than your wife and mother combined.
Sure, Google+ looks kind of interesting. But there’s no killer feature in it that Facebook couldn’t implement in a couple of weeks if they wanted to. For example: FB’s new video chat feature is supposed to be absolutely dead simple and kickass.
So it boils down to who has the most users. Sure, Google has far more potential users than Facebook, but Facebook owns social networking at the moment. And, despite how some people fawn all over Google, they’ve had some massive fails, too. Google Wave was supposed to replace email and instant messaging. How did that work out? Google Buzz died a quick death. And did anyone ever create a Google Profile?
At least Google+ is a product that some people might actually want, unlike…
Google Catalog (really? scanned catalogs?)
Google Video Player (just what the world needed: another proprietary video format!)
Google Checkout (“It’s like a digital Discover Card!”)
Google Answers (“We somehow lost to Yahoo! Answers?”)
Google Page Creator (“You know what we need? Our own version of Geocities!”)
Google Knol (“What’s better than one Wikipedia? TWO Wikipedias!” Too bad no one ever visited Knol.)
Dodgeball (“Wait… in May 2005 we bought a company that did exactly what Foursquare does and somehow forgot that it existed, then created Google Latitude to compete with Foursquare… which we helped develop when we gave all that money to Dennis Crowley?”)
Jaiku (“Wait… in October 2007 we bought a company that did almost exactly the same thing as Twitter and somehow forgot that it existed? Why does this keep happening?”),
Orkut (“Wait… in 2004 we bought a company that does almost exactly what Facebook does… and somehow it only ended up being popular in Brazil and India? SERIOUSLY, WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?”)
Needless to say, I’m skeptical about Google+.
Nice post… I was thinking of getting your opinion on this new interweb thingy called Google+ But I think I just got it…and when you look at the fact the Myspace was just bought for 50 bucks and super rad collection of 70’s porn loops.. says something.. that being HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS SHIT DO ANY OF US NEED.. I know a chick who seems to think that facebook is old news and she and her ” hip ” friends are already doing other social networking..So basically you interfacing with the same folks you were on Myspace and then FB…BFD. Keep in mind that this is one of those chicks whose cell phone is now a part of her and no matter where she is or what she is doing there is always someone or something elsewhere that is cooler and has to be texted about non-stop.. It all seems pointless, stupid, impersonal and getting kinda lame. I think I will resist the new machine as long as I can.. hell maybe I am getting old or just losing interest…kinda like sex… just kidding.. or am I..