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Re: Google Buzz

#51

Post by cantastoria »

ewjordan wrote: post #44
cantastoria wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has always been this way as far as I can tell. They're basically using Microsoft's old strategy of "clone it and give it away so we can sell more of Windows" only with Google it's ads. The difference is everyone still loves them. Microsoft was seen as ruthlessly destroying their competition. Google is seen as innovative. Bizarre.

Microsoft was seen as ruthlessly destroying their competition. Google is seen as innovative. Bizarre. Google gives away a ton of free services that work. Microsoft sells people something that they have (almost) no option not to buy, and causes a near infinite stream of headaches to just about everyone (even if you don't use it yourself - how many times have you had to help out friends or relatives whose Windows insta…

even if you don't use it yourself - how many times have you had to help out friends or relatives whose Windows installations got screwed up?

Actually never... but anyway.

Sure, giving stuff away may be a cheap ploy to earn goodwill

But it's not a cheap ploy. It's a destroyer of value. Once Google moves into a market it's impossible to compete against them (same used to be true of Microsoft and still is in markets they're dominant in..)

My point is that as a community of people interested in startups/founders one would think Hacker News would be upset by this but everyone seems to celebrate when Google moves into a market and destroys it with free.

Is it really that bizarre that I feel differently about the two companies?

I think it's bizarre you think they're different.

Re: Google Buzz

#52

Post by jganetsk »

jfno67 wrote: post #39

Just tried it out on my Android, can someone tell me why I'll go to Foursquare now... This is the best checkin interface yet.

Because Foursquare incentivizes you to use it a hundred ways from Sunday, including games and promotions.

Re: Google Buzz

#53

Post by cantastoria »

kesun421 wrote: post #43
cantastoria wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has always been this way as far as I can tell. They're basically using Microsoft's old strategy of "clone it and give it away so we can sell more of Windows" only with Google it's ads. The difference is everyone still loves them. Microsoft was seen as ruthlessly destroying their competition. Google is seen as innovative. Bizarre.

Not bizarre if you consider Google actually gives away source code of some of their best products for free. Microsoft just couldn't do this.

And what I'm supposed to do with the source code? Relaunch it as another product and try and compete with Google? Free source code is the oldest trick in Google's book, it amazes me people still fall for it.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know of an example of a successful startup whose products are based on source code from Google?

Re: Google Buzz

#54

Post by DannoHung »

intellectronica wrote: post #5

Is Google becoming the new Microsoft? Not in the evil sense, but in the lame me-too products that rely on brute force (their huge install base) and no innovation to hopelessly try to compete sense.

It's not enough to copy a product to get the anger. You have to achieve dominance and then stagnate. Take Google Reader for example. When it started out, Bloglines was the superior web reader. Over time and through innumerable upgrades, GR developed a fundamentally superior product.

Also, Google's thing has literally always been to launch half baked ideas, get reaction, and then iterate. All the while never charging anyone except for the eyeballs.

Re: Google Buzz

#55

Post by tlholaday »

cantastoria wrote: post #25
wvenable wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open source software is frequently a clone of commercial software and free. If that were enough to be "evil" then everything would be evil. Nobody is claiming that Google is innovative in this example.

Most true open source software doesn't have the launch pad of GMail either. Besides that, the fact that the open source community clones software and gives it away is just as sad. Open sourcing something doesn't make it pure. If that were enough to be "evil" then everything would be evil. I don't care if Google is evil. They're a large corporation trying to make money like any other. They don't care about us. * Nobod…

Was Google Maps a clone? Google Mail a clone? Wave a clone? AppEngine a clone? The Chrome browser a clone? Android a clone? GWT a clone?

What are you talking about?

Re: Google Buzz

#57

Post by jokermatt999 »

mrfabbri wrote: post #37

Accessing http://m.google.com/app/buzz from an iPhone works whether or not you see the buzz label in gmail. You can use Firefox with the "User-Agent Switcher" add-on set on iPhone to try it out.

Similarly, buzz.google.com worked on my Droid, despite not having the buzz link in gmail.

Re: Google Buzz

#58

Post by kingsley_20 »

intellectronica wrote: post #50
ashu wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Argh what is the point of comments like these? It is totally drowning out any useful discussion about the actual merits or demerits of the product. The iPod was a lame "me-too" product, eh?

Actually the same can be said of your answer :-/ That the iPod was a me-too product is an interesting comment, because it reminds us to look at what was special about it (beautiful design, tight integration with the desktop and media store). What's special about Buzz?

tight integration with email?
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