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I'm a little peeved by the author's parting shot: "a world where nerd engineers get turned loose in a Montessori preschool, and they have no idea about user int

by benwr 17y ago

I'm a little peeved by the author's parting shot: "a world where nerd engineers get turned loose in a Montessori preschool, and they have no idea about user interface design and, frankly, they don’t care.  " Everything the author does on the internet was created by these "nerd engineers," most with no expertise in UI design. Petty quibbles aside, though, the author has a point: Google's services recently have appeared to lean toward the Google-serving with the side-effect of helping Google's userbase at large. Of course, they are a for-profit corporation and this is to be expected, but I think everyone was hoping that "don't be evil" really meant "actively pursue the best interests of the internet, even above profit." On the other hand, I disagree that Buzz specifically is Google simply trying to punch out other social networking sites. Currently there are three basic types of personal communication online: IM, Email, and Facebook/Twitter. GMail has already combined the first two, and I think it makes logical sense to add the third. It's certainly useful, just maybe not useful and better.

drusenko 17y ago
In regards to the first point, I felt like he was making a distinction between what he's calling "nerd engineers" (perhaps poorly chosen) -- with no design sense or care for UI -- and other engineers, who carefully think out their interfaces.
adzuci 17y ago
Good point on the evil, although I'd have to say I'm a little more than peeved overall with the attacks, if anything the article put me more on Google's side. Yes, Google absorbs startups and imitates any product, but it's competitive edge is the crowd of engineers who say, "Hey, I could do that better". All its expansions are evolutionary, and they take into consideration all the criticism out there better than most others could. Regardless, if you don't want to Buzz then opt-out, but the competition between Buzz, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest will come down too which are most convenient and affective, followers will take it from there. Right now though, Buzz can easily replace Twitter for me, but theres a way to go before Facebook starts trembling, and I don't think Orcut is joining the show any time soon.

by benwr 17y ago

drusenko 17y ago

In regards to the first point, I felt like he was making a distinction between what he's calling "nerd engineers" (perhaps poorly chosen) -- with no design sense or care for UI -- and other engineers, who carefully think out their interfaces.

adzuci 17y ago

Good point on the evil, although I'd have to say I'm a little more than peeved overall with the attacks, if anything the article put me more on Google's side. Yes, Google absorbs startups and imitates any product, but it's competitive edge is the crowd of engineers who say, "Hey, I could do that better". All its expansions are evolutionary, and they take into consideration all the criticism out there better than most others could. Regardless, if you don't want to Buzz then opt-out, but the competition between Buzz, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest will come down too which are most convenient and affective, followers will take it from there. Right now though, Buzz can easily replace Twitter for me, but theres a way to go before Facebook starts trembling, and I don't think Orcut is joining the show any time soon.