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Re: Google Buzz

#71

Post by jonknee »

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?

When the iPod debuted it only worked on a small percentage of the world's computers and had no media store. It grew into a winner, but the first gen wasn't particularly special.

Re: Google Buzz

#72

Post by dunk010 »

rgrove wrote: post #16
intellectronica wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an interesting perspective. That would sort of put them in the 'evil' bucket, and I really don't think they are (or maybe I'm being naive?)

They're certainly doing their best to hijack the "Buzz" product name away from Yahoo!.

They already have a namespace clash http://buzz.blogger.com

Re: Google Buzz

#73

Post by FreeRadical »

alexandros wrote: post #67

One thing that just struck me, is that google/gmail will not be banned from workplace computers as often as fb/twitter have been. This alone will be a significant advantage.

I think in most corporates (outside the software industry) it's the other way around. I can't access gmail/hotmail but can access social networks at work (in finance).

Re: Google Buzz

#75

Post by [deleted] »

FreeRadical wrote: post #73
alexandros wrote: post #67

One thing that just struck me, is that google/gmail will not be banned from workplace computers as often as fb/twitter have been. This alone will be a significant advantage.

I think in most corporates (outside the software industry) it's the other way around. I can't access gmail/hotmail but can access social networks at work (in finance).

[deleted]

Re: Google Buzz

#76

Post by kesun421 »

cantastoria wrote: post #53
kesun421 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Would you rather just have documentation of APIs? Having the source code is better than not, at least it gives people the option to expand/correct/port anything if they wish to.

Re: Google Buzz

#77

Post by eam »

kloncks wrote: post #74

In the picture on the website, why is the Nexus One being covered by the iPhone? It should be the other way around.

I agree! Maybe they're trying to "not be evil".

Re: Google Buzz

#78

Post by enki »

cantastoria wrote: post #51
ewjordan wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 the…

i don't really see how you can complain about someone doing a good job at providing a valuable service to users. if they do a bad job, i can compete - if they don't, i can't add value.

it's not like we're gonna run out of problems to solve, because google is solving all of them for us.

Re: Google Buzz

#79

Post by [deleted] »

alexandros wrote: post #67

One thing that just struck me, is that google/gmail will not be banned from workplace computers as often as fb/twitter have been. This alone will be a significant advantage.

[deleted]

Re: Google Buzz

#80

Post by brk »

ashu wrote: post #41
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.

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?

I actually thought his comment was moderately insightful (ie: it's not totally original, but in the context of the hype around Buzz, it's a question worth pondering).

The iPod was not a me-too product. It was the first digital music player that took a more comprehensive approach to solving the problem around finding/getting music content from the "cloud" (back when "the cloud" was just simply called the interwebs) to your player. When the iPod first launched, many people did not initially look any deeper then the surface.

Perhaps once we look past the surface of Buzz, we'll see that it brings something to the table that has been missing in social status sites. Or, perhaps Buzz is Google's Zune.

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