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I find it interesting that the article begins by talking about how great it is that Google+ puts pressure on facebook and then immediately tries to paint the se

I find it interesting that the article begins by talking about how great it is that Google+ puts pressure on facebook and then immediately tries to paint the service as a bad thing. Intrinsic to the claim that G+ is a long-awaited challenge to the "monopolistic" facebook is the obvious fact that Google is one of the few entities with the power to challenge the facebook behemoth. So why then does the author then complain that Google is too big?

cbs 15y ago
>So why then does the author then complain that Google is too big? Because gray areas and mixed bags can exist. g+ doesn't have to be perfect to do things right, and doing some things right doesn't fix other problem areas. There can simultaneously be upsides and downsides of the same thing.
bonch 15y ago
The transition is made in the first sentence of the third paragraph: "The problem with this rationale, however rosy it may seem, is that you’re simply moving from one internet juggernaut to another." He first explained the pros of Google+ and then moved onto the cons.
ChuckMcM 15y ago
There are a lot of 'anti' Google+ articles coming out at the moment. Google+ is a trending topic, positive Google+ coverage is common, so negative Google+ coverage stands out. Now as to whether or not the author of the cited article makes their case or not, I'm with other folks who agree that if you're using gmail/docs/picassa/talk then you're probably already have this risk and Google+ neither adds or decreases that risk. What it does point out, and the author doesn't explore, is that the Google+ infrastructure, binding these Google properties together, is what makes Google+ interesting. And it might be even more interesting if there was some sort of meta social operating system thing which would let you plug in the components you wanted (your email provider, your chat provider, etc). I expect that if someone could pull that off they would get even more attention.
- jsavimbi 15y ago
  And it's not just the web properties. Google has a functional business ecosystem addressing not only desktop and mobile software platforms, but also the hardware partners to extend it worldwide. For better or for worse, Google has positioned itself as the current internet software infrastructure provider. Nobody else, neither Apple nor Microsoft is in a position to compete with them with such an extensive offering and grab as large as a market share. Facebook has a website with a serious credibility problem among mature users and growing fatigue amongst their core user base. A year from now you will not be taken seriously if you champion Facebook over Google+. And I say that as someone who has consistently derided their social offerings, although I will admit that Orkut was good for awhile.

cbs 15y ago

>So why then does the author then complain that Google is too big? Because gray areas and mixed bags can exist. g+ doesn't have to be perfect to do things right, and doing some things right doesn't fix other problem areas. There can simultaneously be upsides and downsides of the same thing.

bonch 15y ago

The transition is made in the first sentence of the third paragraph: "The problem with this rationale, however rosy it may seem, is that you’re simply moving from one internet juggernaut to another." He first explained the pros of Google+ and then moved onto the cons.

ChuckMcM 15y ago

There are a lot of 'anti' Google+ articles coming out at the moment. Google+ is a trending topic, positive Google+ coverage is common, so negative Google+ coverage stands out. Now as to whether or not the author of the cited article makes their case or not, I'm with other folks who agree that if you're using gmail/docs/picassa/talk then you're probably already have this risk and Google+ neither adds or decreases that risk. What it does point out, and the author doesn't explore, is that the Google+ infrastructure, binding these Google properties together, is what makes Google+ interesting. And it might be even more interesting if there was some sort of meta social operating system thing which would let you plug in the components you wanted (your email provider, your chat provider, etc). I expect that if someone could pull that off they would get even more attention.

jsavimbi 15y ago
And it's not just the web properties. Google has a functional business ecosystem addressing not only desktop and mobile software platforms, but also the hardware partners to extend it worldwide. For better or for worse, Google has positioned itself as the current internet software infrastructure provider. Nobody else, neither Apple nor Microsoft is in a position to compete with them with such an extensive offering and grab as large as a market share. Facebook has a website with a serious credibility problem among mature users and growing fatigue amongst their core user base. A year from now you will not be taken seriously if you champion Facebook over Google+. And I say that as someone who has consistently derided their social offerings, although I will admit that Orkut was good for awhile.