I'm tired of corporations trying to force me to use their other services. Let it happen naturally, if it's gonna happen. Don't make me shape my workflow based on your needs.
We Need To Talk, Google
221–230 of 245 posts
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#222This is just one of the many issues with Google products these days. I dread using anything from Google because of the confusing accounts mess, the language and localization chaos, the forced de-anonimization, the consistent ignoring of explicitly set preferences and the countless bugs in all of those. The way I feel about using Google services today mirrors how I felt about Windows a decade ago. You start out trying…
Pretty sure that performing a google search is just as easy today as it ever was.
Things that go wrong with Google searches for me on a weekly basis:
* I search from Firefox and my browser spends 30 seconds in the middle of the redirection from .com to .co.uk
* I click a search result and my browser spends 30 seconds waiting for the redirection/click tracking script, and there's no easy way to get the actual URL you are going to any more, so you have to wait
* I type in a query and the auto-refresh kicks in, but it lags, and I (unnecessarily, because I am not used to the auto-search feature) hit enter on the keyboard as well, which leaves Google in a completely broken state where updating the query and hitting enter or the search button has no effect
* I make a new search from Firefox and then perform a second search from inside that page, and the whole page locks up in the greyed out "I am loading more results" state. I hit refresh but the URL is still that of my original query, so I end up looking at that again instead
* The search-as-you-type feature is enabled, despite me having disabled it over a dozen times now (and yes, I am signed in)
For one reason or another, I have to wait several seconds to see my Google search results multiple times per day. That's a pretty low barrier for complaining, but it's also enough time to open a new tab, go to Bing.com, type in my original query again, and click the results - all before my Google query finishes loading.
Other than issues with the unnecessary number of HTTP requests between my clicks and actually getting to the page I want, the obvious sticking factor is the search-as-you-type feature: It's reimplementing too much of the normal browser cycle, but isn't implemented well enough to not fall over, and these types of solutions don't integrate well with the tools I have to control page loads (the stop and refresh buttons).
Edit: Also as a programmer I realise I am not in their 99% use case, but it is incredibly difficult for me to find the information I need these days. The auto-correct feature is in overdrive compared to how it worked a few years ago, and frequently 'corrects' technical terms to totally useless queries. Aggravating the issue is the removal of the '+' operator, and the fact that even quoted search terms now allow synonyms and corrections. There are lots of other issues with the search results in recent times, such as the predilection to give me 10 results all from the exact same website, but I drilled down on the technical issues because frankly the search results are still better on Google than their competitors. But the technical implementation and user experience? They are falling behind in those areas.
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
I moved from chrome to FF and google search to duckduckgo search after prism.
You know that DuckDuckGo is a US company, right? And thus subject to the same exact laws as a company like Google (and the same NSA snooping). It's true that they don't log your search queries, but if the NSA has access to the root CAs they can snoop on you anyway. And what do you think happens if the government subpoenas DuckDuckGo and tells them to log your traffic? They will of course do so. And they have a MUCH s…
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Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#224Google is simply trying to unify their services. YouTube was an acquisition, with it's own login system and social network. They don't want to maintain this separation forever, they want a single signon for everything. Ditto for sharing and contacts. You had separate 'contacts' in Gmail, Latitude, G+, Reader, YouTube, and probably others I'm missing. Users shouldn't be prompted to maintain N different copies of this…
Youtube can be unified, without displaying my G+ picture and profile on it. It simply requires a checkbox, and a new field - Youtube alias to be displayed.
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Indeed and I think caching all your search queries is a vastly more effective way to figure out how to advertise you than Google+ but I suspect they must see some value in it else why do it.
It's possible that what matters is not whether Google sees any value in Google+ but whether Wall Street does.
Or the NSA.
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
You've an interesting perspective. So, in your mind, someone shouldn't complain about something unless he/she has tried to build his/her own version of it?
Either build your own or do not complain when it is free. Its fair. You cannot "demand" in exchange for FREE
Complaints != Demands
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
I moved from chrome to FF and google search to duckduckgo search after prism.
You know that DuckDuckGo is a US company, right? And thus subject to the same exact laws as a company like Google (and the same NSA snooping). It's true that they don't log your search queries, but if the NSA has access to the root CAs they can snoop on you anyway. And what do you think happens if the government subpoenas DuckDuckGo and tells them to log your traffic? They will of course do so. And they have a MUCH s…
Yes you are right. But my switch was based more on a general "getting tired of google's bullshit" feeling that has been building over the last 2-3 years, especially my experience with google support, adwords, youtube integration, and all the crap that they know about me. At one time I was doing almost 90% of my work in google ecosystem.
Now its spread between yahoo, ddg, dropbox, etc. I feel even more strongly about Facebook. If and when a viable alternative is available, I'll be switching. Similarly with email. For the first time I'm starting to become open to paid email that is secure. I guess it has to be a non-US company.
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been to a great Mexican restaurant named La Cucaracha. Great name, huh? I've always wondered how Chi-Chi's stayed in business, BTW.
Because who wants to go to a place called tits? Me, that's who.
Do you really consider cockroaches and tits to be on the same level?!
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't disagree with your sentiment so I had to go back and re-read the OPs thoughts. I think he had a Group Youtube channel. He logged in using his individual account onto his Group Youtube channel and it linked his individual G+ to the group Youtube. When he unlinked this, it disable his Group Youtube. I think this is pretty serious stuff. If youtube allows you to group individual accounts, then you dont want to l…
It's a transition time. They're making the right choices. It's unfortunate that the transition from the current state to the new state is painful. Ultimately, do you agree with the direction, and can you forgive them for the missteps? I mean, how many times was "re-install Microsoft Windows, and all of your applications" the only option? I get that it's painful for some people, and I don't mean to diminish that. But…
It's not free if the content we upload becomes content Google offers to other users for entertainment, which advertisers pay Google to be a part of. It's not free if Google offers advertisers inroads into our "mandatory unified profiles and connected personal data streams".
The OP is merely expressing what a lot of people are experiencing, and not just technical people. I know plenty of non-technical people who avoid mainstream Google because it's like "getting a passport" and "signing over your life" just to upload a video.
The user experience of being part of YouTube is crap. The barrier to entry is too heavily weighted towards "registration" and "validation" rather than just having fun and joining something fun.
Email is NOT related to Youtube, not by any stretch. So you get emamiled when someone posts a video? Wow, that really is lame. That notification could happen a million different ways, including an email to your Yahoo email address.
Google forces completely different services to be connected. It's no longer possible to rate a video out of 5 unless you have a Google+ account. It's no longer possible to have a Google+ account unless you provide Google your mobile phone number and access to all your contacts, etc etc.
Youtube was once a cool service for YOU, US. Now it's a service for "content partners" and YOU/WE are permitted to join in, provided that certain commercially motivated conditions are met. That's crap. It's like a movie cinema denying entry unless you wear a (free) t-shirt advertising their cinema. VikingCoder would say "hey, it's a free t-shirt, what are you complaining about". Well, I just want to watch a film, I do not want to be locked into the Cinema's desperate social media marketing eco-system.
Re: We Need To Talk, Google
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plus, it's very hard to tell if a feature has been _removed_ or just hidden away where you're unlikely to find it. The core of the Google UI at the moment is: "Hey, move your mouse around the screen or just click somewhere and maybe something useful will slide out from where we've hidden it!" I exaggerate, but only slightly....
I exaggerate, but only slightly.... If anything, you're understating the frustration of the new GMail compose UI. My browser window hasn't gotten any smaller, but the amount of important information displayed at any given time by GMail continues to decrease. "Oh, you don't really need to see who you're sending this e-mail to, nor could you possibly care whether they're a To:, CC:, or BCC:, so we'll just hide them all…
Well said! ;-)
> Never mind that they're always in the same place
Except sometimes they're not. Select an email and "More" shoots over from being the third item in the menu bar to being the seventh.
Then there's "Archive" which can either have its own button or magically appear as a dropdown menu item. And so on.
Drives me crazy....