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Interesting he feels so strongly about that... but then again, he always kinda does. Not sure what to make of it. I used to follow Scoble's blog back when he wa

Interesting he feels so strongly about that... but then again, he always kinda does. Not sure what to make of it. I used to follow Scoble's blog back when he was evangelizing for Microsoft, but he's abandoned his mediums so often and so vociferously that I sort of lost track. Is Google Plus his latest platform now? Personally, I'm consciously trying _not_ to get stuck with a single company's ecosystem, so a lot of the advantages Scoble mentions simply don't relate to me. But then again, I never really ventured past search and Gmail... is the rest of Google's services really that good to justify buying into?

onedev 13y ago
As far as G+ is concerned, I find Facebook much more useful than G+ for all intents and purposes (photos, groups, messaging, news, everything I find is either better or more useful on Facebook; more useful in the sense that my friends actually use it heh). YouTube has great content but the design has changed for the worse in my humble opinion. Maps is top notch. Really a modern day beauty. Calendar is pretty useful, but nothing you can't get from some other provider. I prefer Dropbox to Google Drive. It performs better, has a better UI, is more intuitive, and I admire the company itself as well as Drew (founder), so I stick with Dropbox (oh and the 50gb free that I've amassed helps too!).
- andybak 13y ago
  Remember Drive = Docs + Online storage so you're essentially only comparing Dropbox to the latter. You're probably aware of this but with the rebranding of Docs to Drive I thought it was worth making this explicit.
  - sidi 13y ago
    With Dropbox, you are free to pick the editor. Not so with Drive. The 'Docs +' in fact adds a constraint.
    - andybak 13y ago
      I'm not clear how to get a Google Drive workflow using Dropbox and an app. i.e: 1. A single canonical version of each document with a change history. 2. Simultaneous real-time editing by multiple users with conflict resolution. Dropbox has pretty limited locking and conflict resolution even if you don't factor in live editing.
      - PeterisP 13y ago
        Well, you don't get simultaneous real-time editing by multiple users with conflict resolution - but that's not why I use Dropbox for. In the last year, I had two documents where I needed to do that, and I used Google docs for that; but it's a very rare edge case for me. Frankly, in many real cases, I'd trust Word's track-changes+email workflow better despite its horrible usability - as when editing an agreement or technical spec, you don't really want to share everything with the "other side", so you need keep the comments and not-really-decided edits hidden; and you also want to review all their recent changes explicitly every time. Most documents I work with need no conflict resolution as creator and viewer is strictly separated; but where proper collaboration is required, Google Drive won't cut it, I would want to have a proper version control system like git or similar. There won't be Google Drive support for native-level editing of, say, Photoshop files, folders of code, audio data, or any data files edited by in-house built tools; but you can have a decent workflow where Dropbox syncs these editables between all your computers, and also allows others to read their latest version from a shared folder.
  - onedev 13y ago
    You're right, I was only referring to the storage part. I love Google's Docs product. It's very simple and fits most of my needs. Their storage product is what I don't like as much, but I acknowledge that they've been making progress on that too (and it has pretty cheap subscription plans to increase storage space which is pretty awesome; Dropbox is pretty expensive but I don't actually pay for it so meh)
- mtgx 13y ago
  That's because you're looking at Google+ wrong. Look at it more like an advanced Twitter. A much better Twitter, at least for organizing information, communities, and stuff like that.
  - lukeschlather 13y ago
    Personally I have no use for Twitter, but find Facebook quite valuable.
  - mkr-hn 13y ago
    I use Twitter as a communication medium. G+ could work for that if it was used by anyone I wanted to communicate with regularly.
- semiel 13y ago
  Google+ has a very specific niche at the moment: Groups of specialized hobbyists who want a platform that's a hybrid between a microblog service and a message board. I know that it's currently the center of the indie tabletop RPG world, for instance, and I think the same is true of at least some other similar communities. I don't think it'll ever replace Facebook, but it could certainly make phpBB obsolete.
  - onedev 13y ago
    I completely agree with you. Niche communities have found a useful way to use G+ (photographers, bloggers, hobbyists) and I think they will continue to do so, but G+ will never replace FB in a general sense.
- myko 13y ago
  > (photos, groups, messaging Wow. These are things I find absolutely terrible on Facebook. Photos are compressed to the point of being unprintable, groups are okay but nowhere near as nice as Google+ communities, and Facebook messaging to me is far behind Gtalk/Hangouts. Also calendar integration with G+ events is magnificent (party mode in the mobile app is amazing as well). I guess I'm just surprised to hear such positives about these particular bits of Facebook which to me lag far behind at least one competitor.
  - onedev 13y ago
    Feature-wise some of the services on G+ might be better (their app is phenomenal, their website is pretty good, their individual products are pretty good also), but EXPERIENCE-wise, I always have a better experience on Facebook because people I care about actually use Facebook. Photos I want to see are not on G+. The photos feature on FB is actually really good for most people. I've heard a ton of photographers like G+ though (it seems to me certain niche communities have found a good use for G+; such as photographers or bloggers) I agree, Hangouts is absolutely amazing (this is actually the only reason my G+ account sees use), but I find FB messenger much more useful than G+ messenger. It's more featured, and more of my friends use it. Chat Heads is simply awesome in every way. Groups on FB have created tons of experiences for me. I met a ton of people I otherwise would not have met and this is BY FAR one of the most useful things on FB to me. I can't delete my FB even if I wanted to, simply for the reason that I'm in groups for each of my classes (I'm a student), as well as groups for my summer internship, groups for the company I work for, groups for my close friends, etc. All of these are tremendously useful, and I think redesigning groups is one of the biggest potentials for Facebook right now, and a very underrated part of the experience. Sure it may lack in the features of G+ groups, but makes up for it with tons of substance. These friends of mine and people I'd like to meet are not on G+ and so, even though Google's groups product may have more features, those feature mean nothing. Of course everything can be improved, and as we're seeing, FB are improving each piece of their total experience one by one (launching a new newsfeed, new timeline, new search, new local, new pages etc).
cromwellian 13y ago
Maps, Translate, and YouTube are also the top services in their category. One could make arguments that Docs, Calendar, have good third party competition, but the former three are relatively unequaled if you consider quality, quantity, cross-platform, and performance together. Yes, there's Apple Maps or Bing Maps, but there's not available everywhere, no Web for Apple, nor Street View. YouTube competitor Vimeo is great and ad-free, but content wise, YouTube has far more. Translate is both more accurate, faster, and had more languages than competitors.
peeplaja 13y ago
He used to evangelize Microsoft because he worked for them. Now he's paid by Rackspace - so his enthusiasm is not bought here.
- OGinparadise 13y ago
  Now he's paid by Rackspace - so his enthusiasm is not bought here. Make no mistake: he attracts attention to himself and then sends some of it to Rackspace. He's a shock jock, he would bash Google+, Google and Google Glass if he thought it would be better for Rackspace, but it isn't. He has calculated that by being a Google billboard he will fare better.
OGinparadise 13y ago
Scoble is different from you and me. His job is (or was) to attract as many people and as much attention to Rackspace. By being a whore for every new platform he did that really well. A normal person builds his own brand at hisname.com, but Scoble sorta sells his attention-getting services to others.
wklauss 13y ago
- "Interesting he feels so strongly about that... but then again, he always kinda does" Exactly. This is why his review on it doesn't tell me much. He's been a constant cheerleader for services and products that, once I had the opportunity to try, left me at best unimpressed. I think he just tries to love everything "new" for the sake of "new" and in hope that if something later catches on, he'll be seen as a pioneer and the force behind the adoption trend. Glass might be a great product, but from Scoble's experience is hard to tell.

onedev 13y ago

As far as G+ is concerned, I find Facebook much more useful than G+ for all intents and purposes (photos, groups, messaging, news, everything I find is either better or more useful on Facebook; more useful in the sense that my friends actually use it heh). YouTube has great content but the design has changed for the worse in my humble opinion. Maps is top notch. Really a modern day beauty. Calendar is pretty useful, but nothing you can't get from some other provider. I prefer Dropbox to Google Drive. It performs better, has a better UI, is more intuitive, and I admire the company itself as well as Drew (founder), so I stick with Dropbox (oh and the 50gb free that I've amassed helps too!).

andybak 13y ago
Remember Drive = Docs + Online storage so you're essentially only comparing Dropbox to the latter. You're probably aware of this but with the rebranding of Docs to Drive I thought it was worth making this explicit.
- sidi 13y ago
  With Dropbox, you are free to pick the editor. Not so with Drive. The 'Docs +' in fact adds a constraint.
  - andybak 13y ago
    I'm not clear how to get a Google Drive workflow using Dropbox and an app. i.e: 1. A single canonical version of each document with a change history. 2. Simultaneous real-time editing by multiple users with conflict resolution. Dropbox has pretty limited locking and conflict resolution even if you don't factor in live editing.
    - PeterisP 13y ago
      Well, you don't get simultaneous real-time editing by multiple users with conflict resolution - but that's not why I use Dropbox for. In the last year, I had two documents where I needed to do that, and I used Google docs for that; but it's a very rare edge case for me. Frankly, in many real cases, I'd trust Word's track-changes+email workflow better despite its horrible usability - as when editing an agreement or technical spec, you don't really want to share everything with the "other side", so you need keep the comments and not-really-decided edits hidden; and you also want to review all their recent changes explicitly every time. Most documents I work with need no conflict resolution as creator and viewer is strictly separated; but where proper collaboration is required, Google Drive won't cut it, I would want to have a proper version control system like git or similar. There won't be Google Drive support for native-level editing of, say, Photoshop files, folders of code, audio data, or any data files edited by in-house built tools; but you can have a decent workflow where Dropbox syncs these editables between all your computers, and also allows others to read their latest version from a shared folder.
- onedev 13y ago
  You're right, I was only referring to the storage part. I love Google's Docs product. It's very simple and fits most of my needs. Their storage product is what I don't like as much, but I acknowledge that they've been making progress on that too (and it has pretty cheap subscription plans to increase storage space which is pretty awesome; Dropbox is pretty expensive but I don't actually pay for it so meh)
mtgx 13y ago
That's because you're looking at Google+ wrong. Look at it more like an advanced Twitter. A much better Twitter, at least for organizing information, communities, and stuff like that.
- lukeschlather 13y ago
  Personally I have no use for Twitter, but find Facebook quite valuable.
- mkr-hn 13y ago
  I use Twitter as a communication medium. G+ could work for that if it was used by anyone I wanted to communicate with regularly.
semiel 13y ago
Google+ has a very specific niche at the moment: Groups of specialized hobbyists who want a platform that's a hybrid between a microblog service and a message board. I know that it's currently the center of the indie tabletop RPG world, for instance, and I think the same is true of at least some other similar communities. I don't think it'll ever replace Facebook, but it could certainly make phpBB obsolete.
- onedev 13y ago
  I completely agree with you. Niche communities have found a useful way to use G+ (photographers, bloggers, hobbyists) and I think they will continue to do so, but G+ will never replace FB in a general sense.
myko 13y ago
> (photos, groups, messaging Wow. These are things I find absolutely terrible on Facebook. Photos are compressed to the point of being unprintable, groups are okay but nowhere near as nice as Google+ communities, and Facebook messaging to me is far behind Gtalk/Hangouts. Also calendar integration with G+ events is magnificent (party mode in the mobile app is amazing as well). I guess I'm just surprised to hear such positives about these particular bits of Facebook which to me lag far behind at least one competitor.
- onedev 13y ago
  Feature-wise some of the services on G+ might be better (their app is phenomenal, their website is pretty good, their individual products are pretty good also), but EXPERIENCE-wise, I always have a better experience on Facebook because people I care about actually use Facebook. Photos I want to see are not on G+. The photos feature on FB is actually really good for most people. I've heard a ton of photographers like G+ though (it seems to me certain niche communities have found a good use for G+; such as photographers or bloggers) I agree, Hangouts is absolutely amazing (this is actually the only reason my G+ account sees use), but I find FB messenger much more useful than G+ messenger. It's more featured, and more of my friends use it. Chat Heads is simply awesome in every way. Groups on FB have created tons of experiences for me. I met a ton of people I otherwise would not have met and this is BY FAR one of the most useful things on FB to me. I can't delete my FB even if I wanted to, simply for the reason that I'm in groups for each of my classes (I'm a student), as well as groups for my summer internship, groups for the company I work for, groups for my close friends, etc. All of these are tremendously useful, and I think redesigning groups is one of the biggest potentials for Facebook right now, and a very underrated part of the experience. Sure it may lack in the features of G+ groups, but makes up for it with tons of substance. These friends of mine and people I'd like to meet are not on G+ and so, even though Google's groups product may have more features, those feature mean nothing. Of course everything can be improved, and as we're seeing, FB are improving each piece of their total experience one by one (launching a new newsfeed, new timeline, new search, new local, new pages etc).

cromwellian 13y ago

Maps, Translate, and YouTube are also the top services in their category. One could make arguments that Docs, Calendar, have good third party competition, but the former three are relatively unequaled if you consider quality, quantity, cross-platform, and performance together. Yes, there's Apple Maps or Bing Maps, but there's not available everywhere, no Web for Apple, nor Street View. YouTube competitor Vimeo is great and ad-free, but content wise, YouTube has far more. Translate is both more accurate, faster, and had more languages than competitors.

peeplaja 13y ago

He used to evangelize Microsoft because he worked for them. Now he's paid by Rackspace - so his enthusiasm is not bought here.

OGinparadise 13y ago
Now he's paid by Rackspace - so his enthusiasm is not bought here. Make no mistake: he attracts attention to himself and then sends some of it to Rackspace. He's a shock jock, he would bash Google+, Google and Google Glass if he thought it would be better for Rackspace, but it isn't. He has calculated that by being a Google billboard he will fare better.

OGinparadise 13y ago

Scoble is different from you and me. His job is (or was) to attract as many people and as much attention to Rackspace. By being a whore for every new platform he did that really well. A normal person builds his own brand at hisname.com, but Scoble sorta sells his attention-getting services to others.

wklauss 13y ago

- "Interesting he feels so strongly about that... but then again, he always kinda does" Exactly. This is why his review on it doesn't tell me much. He's been a constant cheerleader for services and products that, once I had the opportunity to try, left me at best unimpressed. I think he just tries to love everything "new" for the sake of "new" and in hope that if something later catches on, he'll be seen as a pioneer and the force behind the adoption trend. Glass might be a great product, but from Scoble's experience is hard to tell.