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Re: Google Now

#161

Post by pvidler »

marcusf wrote: post #105
disappointment wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe it or not, we had PDAs back then. And before that, we had pocket TVs.

But they were never mass market in the same way. Walk on to the tube today and 70% will have their noses buried in an iPhone (or less often, a 'droid). That wasn't the case with either PDA's or pocket TV's. Possibly with walkmans/iPods.

> Possibly with walkmans/iPods

And do books count as well? Not really devices, but just as absorbing, for some of us. I don't really understand why we think about electronic devices differently from every other human invention.

A year or two ago, I had a short train commute (Loughborough to Leicester and back, on one of the main routes to London) on a daily basis and saw far more people immersed in books than in their phones -- I suspect it was a bit early in the day for the younger folk, though.

In fact, it was more common to see business people using laptops than books and phones combined.

Re: Google Now

#165

Post by nutanc »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #59

"...Cards appear throughout the day..." Yay, just what I wanted: yet another software service to interrupt me thoughout the day. Snarkiness aside, I'm sure the information is relevant and good. But if I forget that my favorite team is playing while I'm working on a design, do I really need to be reminded? People are not machines. I do not subscribe to and process an information feed in the same way that an email clie…

Or maybe, Google Now will figure out you are working on your design now based on your Google searches and prompt you to check out the latest relevant designs :)

Re: Google Now

#166

Post by dcaranda »

mikk0j wrote: post #115

LOL. The closed captioning in the beginning of that demo video reads like a haiku from an emo kid: "Tear out your day / all that information is rainy days / actually needed." Not sure if it makes me trust Google's efforts to bring me "just the right information at just the right time."

Nice catch. More gold from Google's automated closed captioning on their own promotional video:

"dissented japanese underground you're done"

"to the mountain tell you what internet xxx" (personal favorite)

"fearsome evil"

"graceland"

Re: Google Now

#167

Post by endtime »

mitjak wrote: post #133
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #59

"...Cards appear throughout the day..." Yay, just what I wanted: yet another software service to interrupt me thoughout the day. Snarkiness aside, I'm sure the information is relevant and good. But if I forget that my favorite team is playing while I'm working on a design, do I really need to be reminded? People are not machines. I do not subscribe to and process an information feed in the same way that an email clie…

Also, what the hell is a card ? After reading the word "card" for the 5th time, even after reading the few paragraphs below the main image, I still have no clue what on earth a card is. Like an app in webOS? Or is it a game of some kind? Apps and websites that invent their own names for existing concepts and seem to assume that you're silly for not having inborn knowledge of what they mean are frustrating.

WebOS used the term in a similar way, I believe.

Re: Google Now

#168

Post by zdean »

mikeash wrote: post #94
tomp wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Sorry, my bad. English is not my first language. 2. So, you think it wouldn't go after another company calling it's media webstore Play Store or Supercorp Play? Now, I don't really know about Google, but Facebook has shown that it is possible to attack other companies even for using just a part of your (completely generic) trademarked name.

It's possible to attack other companies for essentially anything. That doesn't mean you'll win.

Yes, but the attack is a lot of times all that's needed. I've known a handful of small companies that were attacked in court for their names on completely unjustifiable trademark grounds. However the cost to defend against even the most frivolous claims can cost tens of thousands of dollars before things really get serious. Not many small businesses/startup are in a position to take on this kind of defense. In the cases of the companies I know of, they capitulated and changed their names to avoid having to undertake the cost of the very winnable defense.

The big corps like Google, Apple, MSFT, etc. will fight it out and not really worry about the legal costs. But for startups/small businesses, this can and probably will be a growing burden moving forward.

Re: Google Now

#169

Post by ondrae »

I have all kinds of questions about how they choose which information is most important about a user's geography, such as showing trains schedules when in the station. Did they take all of their Google Places categories and analyze which apps where being used more in what types of places? How do they decide where you are at in a city, where locations are all stacked on top of each other? I hope they open this up so we can add in relevant streams, mostly public safety info. p.s. I would love to work on these problems. City data is super interesting to me.
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