So while I was on my little hiatus, Google did it again, and by that I mean they came out with yet another free tool to hook people on. Following up with the social aspect of Google Wave, Google Buzz arrived a few days ago, integrated with Gmail and designed to be a response to social networking services like Facebook and Twitter. What’s the Buzz about? Well, with auto-follow on your most frequently mailed contacts, ability to share URL’s with your followers and who you follow, and Google’s almost idiot-proof interface design, Buzz has generated…well a bit of buzz for people.
A lot of naysayers say that Google spreads itself too thin by basically trying to do anything and everything, and that this latest foray into territory held by dedicated services is destined to fail. But Google, if anything, has learned to cultivate its tools by integrating them with its existing bread and butter services. Wave, for example, has had a slow start due to a lack of seamless integration with Gmail. Buzz, on the other hand, includes a brand new section in your Gmail and allows you to access you and your friend’s feeds at the click of a mouse. It’s why the response has been a bit favorable than it could have been.
I typically like to use Twitter and Facebook integrated together, so hopefully Buzz has the ability to integrate with all those services in order to present updates. It was interesting to see how many of my most frequent Gmail emailers decided to follow me – some did, and some didn’t, and my friends have taken to posting everything on Buzz from news articles to picture links. Funny how social networking services take off like that.
Whether or not Google’s newest tool will succeed remains to be seen – but it’s at least nice to see that a company isn’t willing to rest on the laurels of its past successes. If Google was satisfied with just its search engine, then we’d never see the convenience of Gmail or Google Docs or Google Video. Sure, there are some tools that are just a bit forgettable (Google Notebook anyone), but there’ve been more hits than misses, so I’m looking forward to what Buzz has to offer us.
A little while back an old friend of mine from my anime convention planning days managed to get her hands on a bunch of invites for Google Wave, the new hotness that Google folks are touting as the next generation in communication and collaboration. I have to admit (and those of you who follow me on Twitter know this) that Wave wasn’t really on my radar of must-have geekery. This is mostly because I’ve been battle-hardened by years of testing MMO betas, and while Google tools are not necessarily like watching the same two people argue about a class that is totally OP and “needs nerf nao”, it still made me cautious about buying into the sales pitch Google was throwing at me. But just like with anything geek, my curiosity got the best of me, and with the additional pressure of folks close to me excited about the tool, I requested a Google Wave invite. This arrived last night in my inbox and I’ve had a few hours to play around with features.
For those of you who don’t know what Google Wave is and stumbled onto this odd blog that is 100% optimism, I’ll review in a few short sentences. Google Wave gives you an interface where you can drag other Wave users into collaborative conversations that are kept as records in an Inbox. Once you’ve started a Wave with others, you can talk in real time (complete with typing), share resources such as maps and links, take polls, and otherwise converse. The app thus combines features from email, chat, and forums to create a tool that Google recently released into an invite-only closed beta preview.
Now, there are a lot of people out there who basically think that Google Wave is a great tool, but is ultimately not so useful right now due to the A) closed status of its testing and B)the fact that it does a lot of things we’ve seen before but makes them complex. I understand the opinion – I mean, we’ve all been exposed to things that are essentially “jack of all trades, master of none” and how they don’t seem to measure up to something as useful as the tools out there. But I think the charm in Google Wave is not so much what it can offer now, but rather what Wave can offer people in the future. Google Wave is a tool that I think is an attempt at being forward-thinking, because it takes online communication in another direction – not necessarily the next level, not necessarily the best or worst thing ever, but in another way that blends features together not unlike a Locutus of Borg – a sort of “Best of Both (or in this case, “All”) Worlds”. Picard-with-an-annoying-penlight-attachment almost changed the game, and Wave seeks to do the same.
The reason I say this is because email, chat, and forums all provide an appealing means for online communication and collaboration. Email is the defacto standard for online communication and allows people to shoot off their latest updates on a project, a re-re-request for a quote, what plans you want to make for dinner, and attached documents and pictures. Chat is real-time and quick, allowing for tidbits not really suitable for email to be shot out to people you know. Forums provide a public means of discussion where complex thoughts and lol-worthy linkage is shared, with a persistent presence anyone can participate in.
What Wave does is combine those into a single interface. You have an Inbox of waves that you’ve started or are invited to participate in, with folders for organization and archiving, like email. You have the ability to collaborate in real-time with other participants currently online, typing to each other quick thoughts and blurbs, like chat. Last but not least, you have the permanence and threading of forums, with every conversation and sub-thread able to be seen, read, and even played back as it happened over chat. Combine this with Google’s Ajax-powered drag and drop like interface and the potential for tools to be created for greater collaboration (a maps and poll interface are the first two widgets) and you have not what Wave is, but what Wave is trying to become – a new way to communicate with others online in interesting if not meaningful ways.
On a personal level, I’ve had a few small collaborations with others in my contacts on things such as the latest happenings in current MMOs, what to shop for on a shared grocery trip, and what places to go to for birthday plans. Beyond that, putting in the “with:public” tag when you are searching for Waves has revealed a metric ton of public Waves, which you can easily do with your own by simply adding the address group public@a.gwave.com to your Contacts (even when it says it doesn’t have an account). I’ve seen public discussion on everything from geekery to aviation to cooking recipes, all accomplished with folks around the world and in real-time. As a forum moderator, I have my concerns but for now, am intrigued by the potential of site-agnostic forum-like discussion across the Internet, with all sorts of possibilities within.
In short, I think that is what Google Wave is making an attempt to offer us – not something that is a diamond now, but perhaps a piece of coal that will be a diamond one day. Coal isn’t very appealing on its own and is a visual turn-off, which might reflect some of the public opinion about Wave. But the potential to be a gem is there, and that’s basically what I’m thinking Wave might have to offer us. Will it succeed? Maybe, maybe not. But like many things Google is doing, the attempt is not a useless endeavor.
For all you Wave users, I’ve made a public Wave of my own called “GG: The Great Gaming Wave”, where gamers can talk about everything PC, console, and online in the world of games. Be sure to search for it and participate if you want! As for Google Wave invites, getting a Google Wave invite privilege appears to be periodic, which means I don’t have the ability to invite people. When I do, I’ll let you all know so you can get in on the Google Wave invite frenzy.
Oh – and I almost forgot – the “lol-worthy links” part of online communication is alive and well in Google Wave:
By now, many of my friends and those of you who have kids or know students have returned to the Back to School grind. With summer nearing its end, and beaches and grills giving way to schoolbooks and classrooms, students drag themselves off to yet another set of classes on the road to bright futures as part of the working force. Sure, it might seem like it sucks to be sitting in class instead of out taking in the sun, going out with friends, or otherwise relaxing, but hey – you should see what it’s like not to have summer vacation, right? Count your blessings, students!
Anyway, the really cool part about being a student these days is the veritable technology toolbox that they have at their disposal. I’m really going to be revealing just how old I am (I can still go, by the way, I just need a nap first), but “back in my day”, the Internet was at its genesis. Google was just a simplistic search engine and a twinkle in the eyes of its creators. Wikipedia didn’t even exist as a resource. Collaborative efforts through online classes and activities were crude and primitive at best, limited to a couple of “hyperlinked” webpages meant to show that yes, professors could keep up with technology as much as they could their books.
Nowadays, professors have had to adjust to make writing papers more of a challenge than just looking up a few things on the Internet and slapping something together. Classes can take the form of online chatrooms, streaming live media of lectures, and community blogs where students can edit, discuss, and work on content together, sometimes in real-time. Technology in the actual classroom has become more prevalent, with laptops making more of an appearance as a supplement or even replacement to notebooks. And technology-related classes have turned from an interesting perk to being an essential part of one’s career in that chosen field.
Some crazy luddite-types out there would decry the advancement into technology in the academic and educational world, saying that resources like Wikipedia and the Internet at large cheapen the learning process, turning out dumber students overall. I say, not so much. To use the technology tools out there is actually an enhancement to a student’s career, not a detriment, and computer skills in general are becoming more and more of a necessity in today’s fast-paced, Twitter-fueled need for real-time updates. Academia, like everything else, should be adaptable and malleable, able to adjust to the new information age and the Internet as a medium for delivery for – well, just about anything. The long and short of it is, the Internet isn’t going anywhere, and the technology tools that it delivers are more of a benefit to students.
Frankly, I wish I was still a student. There are these crazy things called “responsibility” and “bills” and the ever-looming “mortgage”, and were I to have access to the technology that students have today, I’d have had a much more fulfilling experience in school than I did. But I suppose being independent, successful, and cutting a paycheck for myself does have its benefits.
Well, Yahoo has a lot to be all smiles about today.
In a bold move aimed at taking on Google, the clear leader in search right now, Yahoo has decided to abandon its own search efforts and instead form an alliance with who else but Microsoft and their new engine, Bing.
The end of Yahoo search hits a particular pang with anyone who was online during the Internet’s infancy, like I was. Yahoo search used to be the defacto 500-lb gorilla of search engines. When there weren’t really any pages that heard of anything like Flash, PHP, or dynamic web content, Yahoo was there to index them all. With a comprehensive categorizing of popular genres, Yahoo search dominated the beginnings of what would become the World Wide Web.
But as the 21st century came and progressed, a simple little search engine with none of the bells and whistles of Yahoo’s offerings began to chink away at Yahoo’s armor, until it eventually dealt a near-fatal blow. Google’s simplicity, high relevance rating, and growing set of tools made it the search engine of choice for many a browser, and Yahoo retreated into its other multimedia offerings – messaging, email, and websites – all of which Google has also invaded.
So to stop the bleeding, Yahoo has decided to partner with the only other entity capable of taking on Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” love-fest, and that’s its antithesis, Microsoft. While this means that Yahoo search finally goes the way of the dodo, this creates a ton of other possibilities for Microsoft, whose release of the Bing engine has been met with skepticism and caution. Leveraging the Yahoo partnership will pay dividends, and Yahoo will benefit from juggernaut backup and ad sales that should keep it afloat.
A lot of people might be worried about an unholy matrimony of Yahoo and Microsoft creating an evil empire to take on Google’s free-wheeling thinktank, but honestly, the end user ultimately wins. There’s nothing like a little competition – legitimate, threatworthy competition – for creating some innovation and oneupsmanship in a bid to snag us, the customers. With all the offers, contests, advertising, and ideas that will be tossed between Micro-Yahoo and Google, we’ll ultimately see some return on whichever side we choose. Of course, you never know – you might see someone else step up to the plate and undercut both search engines in an amazing coup of innovation.
Good times are afoot for searching for your favorite things on the internet, folks. Hold on – it’s gonna be a wild ride.
It’s the start of another week, and for those of you down in the dumps, don’t despair that the weekend is far, far away. For Americans, July 4th makes this week a short week, but aside from that, there’s tons going on in the world to bring a smile to your face:
Preview – Starcraft 2 Multiplayer (Destructoid): Be jealous of Destructoid’s Jonathan Ross, because he got an invite to Blizzard’s studios to check out the first hands-on demo of Starcraft 2′s Multiplayer. Apparently, there is much in the way of sexy in Blizzard’s upcoming hotly anticipated sequel. If the press is starting to get their hands on this stuff, it definitely means that release is definitely looking to be set in stone.
SEGA Comments on Michael Jackson (Kotaku): Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few days, then you obviously know Michael Jackson died of a heart attack, leading to a broad range of speculation from everyone from no-name bloggers to major news media outlets. Sega joins the commenting circus in the linked article, so with the developer of the only Michael Jackson game in the books, perhaps we’ll see less of Michael and more talk about actual games. Take heart!
Loyalty to Google Keeps Users From Bing (Digg): If you’ve been freaking out over the advertising blitz that new search engine Bing has been doing, don’t worry – people are attached to the “Don’t Be Evil” appeal of Google and its growing empire of open source applications. No one’s going to be uprooted any time soon for new hotness, so Bing’s got a lot to prove.
Despite Terrible Reviews, Transformers 2 Makes $200 Million (The Escapist): So if you despaired at some of the worst reviews given to a movie ever, then you haven’t looked at the numbers for Transformers 2, the Michael Bay sequel featuring more robot fights upstaged by more tiny humans. Even though the movie was set to flop worse than a politician running for office, the movie made back its costs and more in 5 days, pulling in a cool $200 million. Guess that goes to show that reviewers sometimes don’t know everything about a title – or that giant fucking robots sell seats.
So today Google makes its way into the browser wars with the short-notice release of its web browser, Chrome. With its sleek design, webkit-powered engine, and, to the joy of geek porn-surfers everywhere, the ability to hide the pages you visit from your history, Google now further cements themselves as the Rebels against an evil Empire of closed-source technology.
Now, some of those cynics out there might think the reverse, that Google’s entry into Internet browsing puts them even closer to a certain armored “more machine than man”. Afraid of Google’s continuing encroachment, some geeks fear the rise of Google worse than when fans of a small time band hate when the band signs a major label contract.
Frankly, to be honest, I welcome our new browser overlords. I mean, c’mon, when it really comes down to it, people use the tools that work, and of course, the ones that are accessible and free. Google has it all, from site building tools, to notebooks, to maps, to images, and of course, searching on the web. Why wouldn’t you use the things that seem to work all the time? They’ve got flaws, like anything else, but if you’re opting to use a little known browser and you aren’t part of one of the major players, I guess that’s your choice, but you’re missing out.
I mean, who knows where this is going to stop, right? Soon we’ll see Google coffee, Google TV channels, Google taxis, Google condoms – it’ll be like Starbucks – you’ll see Google things kitty corner to other Google things. Isn’t consistency a great thing? Don’t we want to all use the same thing so that we don’t have to worry about some subpar competition that no one has heard about? Why not?
Being on the Google train is like being on the Facebook or Myspace train – you might try to resist it for a while, but sooner or later, you’re going to use a Google tool to do something, and by then, it’s going to be too late. You might as well save yourself the time and use the Google web browser now. Sure, they make overtures like they are going to keep working with their partners and playing nice nice with their competition, but sooner or later, the Google collective will absorb it all. I, for one, don’t plan to wait until they introduce Google doctors to introduce Google immunizations filled with Google antibodies that are able to use the google search engine to search for germs in your body and destroy them. No, I’m on the wagon now, and you’d better jump on before they’re out of space.
So enjoy Chrome, set your most visited pages to all those Hello Kitty fansites you visit all the time, and relax. Resistance, after all, really is futile.
A little while back an old friend of mine from my anime convention planning days managed to get her hands on a bunch of invites for 
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