8 ms·

I think this actually fits with what I think about Google overall. Search is great, everything else is just a mediocre tie in to search dollars. Google is attr

by bifrost 14y ago

I think this actually fits with what I think about Google overall. Search is great, everything else is just a mediocre tie in to search dollars. Google is attracting more "nesters" and less "innovators" from what I see as an outsider, which is likely good for long term products but bad for everything else. Glass is already a bad word (RE: glassholes), Plus is a wasteland, Voice is only popular due to branding, as is Calendar and Docs. I've seen announcements of products that appear to be more functional than Voice/Cal/Docs on HN with better security and performance, but I think the likelihood of those taking over is probably low until Google gets out of those markets. The products are better, but the mindshare isn't there yet.

turing 14y ago
Glass is piquing more interest than any consumer electronics device since the iPhone, Plus is thriving, and Docs is by far the best cloud office suite I've seen. I am by no means saying that Google is the best in every market they enter--some of their offerings are pathetic compared to the competition-- but your claims of across the board mediocrity in their non-search products is severely overblown.
- zone411 14y ago
  Google+ doesn't appear to "thriving" to me. Here is one indicator: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=google%20%2B%2C%20google%20plus&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=google%20%2B%2C%20goo... (flat line). For comparison, add "imgur" or "hotmail" to the input. Here is another where it looks a bit better: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/plus.google.com/ http://siteanalytics.compete.com/plus.google.com/. However, considering the amount of integration with their other products, I can't see it as anything more than a disappointment for Google.
  - CatMtKing 14y ago
    That's looking at search queries though, right? Why would any one Google for g+, when there's a link to it on the top left corner of Google's search page?
- rubinelli 14y ago
  The concept behind Glass is fantastic. For all the talk of "cyborgs" and "glassholes", it's clear that it struck a nerve. What we don't have enough information to say yet is if Glass is the new iPad or the new Newton.
samuellevy 14y ago
I don't know why people keep insisting that G+ is a waste land. If you personally don't use it, or see a use for it, that's fine, but there are many people in the world who are not you. Personally, I get far more value from G+ than I do/ever have done from twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or any of the many social networks over the years. I have a use for it, which it fulfills better than any of the other services out there, and so for me (and the thousand or so people who I'm connected to at various levels through G+), it's far from a waste land. G+ isn't for everyone, and that's fine. It is a product which is now highly polished, and provides exactly what I and many other people have wanted from a social network. The exact numbers of users who actually actively use it may not be clear, but if it was a waste land, Google wouldn't be integrating all their services so tightly into it. Google is not a stupid company, and they're not about to "break" all of their services to drive adoption of a service which can't stand on its own. G+ is a good service, and is providing massive amounts of value to Google. Reader was not creating new value for them; wave wasn't getting adopted; Google had reasons why continuing to support those products was a losing bet. They are integrating so many of their services into G+, that you can pretty much guarantee that it's a winner (for them, at least). </rant>
- bernardlunn 14y ago
  Social is inevitably a winner take all market, so in this case the ignoramuses who never use G+ who declare it dead are probably right. Its not about great features, just ask FriendFeed.
  - jmtulloss 14y ago
    Why do you believe that social is a winner take all market?
    - philwelch 14y ago
      Metcalfe's Law.
      - magicalist 14y ago
antoinec 14y ago
Google Maps/Earth, Android, I wouldn't call that mediocre and not innovative...
- bifrost 14y ago
  Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years. Android is neat, but its not innovative either. The only reason I use one is because of the wide variety of HW available.
  - tomkarlo 14y ago
    There's been a ton of new features on maps over the past few years, including indoor maps, indoor streetview, transit info and all kinds of new aerial views. I'm not sure what you'd want from them... after all, they are still a map service. http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/ http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/
  - jacquesm 14y ago
    > Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years. That's a feature, not a bug. I actually like the way maps works right now, I would not want change just for its own sake.
  - antoinec 14y ago
    If you think android is not innovative, then I guess google search isn't innovative either: search engine existed before google.
- danieldk 14y ago
  And yet, I have to resort to Garmin software and maps to do real trip planning (cycling, hiking, and even driving).
  - tomkarlo 14y ago
    At least in my experience (in the US) the maps data on Google is much better for cycling routes, partially because users can go in and submit fixes, which I don't believe you can do for the Garmin data.
snogglethorpe 14y ago
You're nuts. Google certainly has some mediocre "products," but they have many great products as well besides search. Gmail, of course, essentially sets the bar for online mail, and is still leaps and bounds better than any of its competitors. Google maps is very, very, good, vastly better than most of the competition (a point made starkly clear by Apple's recent maps C-F). Google+ is, technically, absolutely excellent, much better than FB. If all your old high-school buddies are only on FB, it's a shame, but there's not much Google can do about that. Android is vastly better than iOS (I use both, and using iOS always makes it feel like my hands are tied behind my back). ...etc. Google has its downsides (e.g. their online support sucks), and you may not like them for other reasons, but they're very, very, good at writing software...
- shurcooL 14y ago
  > Android is vastly better than iOS (I use both, and using iOS always makes it feel like my hands are tied behind my back). For me, I feel like I have 2 hands when using iOS but 17 hands when using Android. It asked me to pick one of 3 power-savings modes for Wi-Fi when in sleep mode. I don't want to have to care about that (nor do I want to pick one of the three options without thinking, because then I'll not have an optimal configuration). I have enough things to tweak on my computer.
  - timmm 14y ago
    Yeah I get that, you might like Google maps more if say you cared about the actual maps.
    - 6d0debc071 14y ago
      That'd be Bing maps then - which I use pretty much exclusively these days.
      - DigitalTurk 14y ago
        Bing is great… unless you travel. It fails for many countries. Even for major cities in China it will only show the main roads.
wyclif 14y ago
As soon as I read "Plus is a wasteland", I knew you had no idea what you were talking about, and stopped reading.
- bergie 14y ago
  Indeed. Communities has made G+ something I read multiple times a day, at the expense of Twitter
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

by bifrost 14y ago

turing 14y ago

Glass is piquing more interest than any consumer electronics device since the iPhone, Plus is thriving, and Docs is by far the best cloud office suite I've seen. I am by no means saying that Google is the best in every market they enter--some of their offerings are pathetic compared to the competition-- but your claims of across the board mediocrity in their non-search products is severely overblown.

zone411 14y ago
Google+ doesn't appear to "thriving" to me. Here is one indicator: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=google%20%2B%2C%20google%20plus&date=today%2012-m&cmpt=q http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=google%20%2B%2C%20goo... (flat line). For comparison, add "imgur" or "hotmail" to the input. Here is another where it looks a bit better: http://siteanalytics.compete.com/plus.google.com/ http://siteanalytics.compete.com/plus.google.com/. However, considering the amount of integration with their other products, I can't see it as anything more than a disappointment for Google.
- CatMtKing 14y ago
  That's looking at search queries though, right? Why would any one Google for g+, when there's a link to it on the top left corner of Google's search page?
rubinelli 14y ago
The concept behind Glass is fantastic. For all the talk of "cyborgs" and "glassholes", it's clear that it struck a nerve. What we don't have enough information to say yet is if Glass is the new iPad or the new Newton.

samuellevy 14y ago

I don't know why people keep insisting that G+ is a waste land. If you personally don't use it, or see a use for it, that's fine, but there are many people in the world who are not you. Personally, I get far more value from G+ than I do/ever have done from twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or any of the many social networks over the years. I have a use for it, which it fulfills better than any of the other services out there, and so for me (and the thousand or so people who I'm connected to at various levels through G+), it's far from a waste land. G+ isn't for everyone, and that's fine. It is a product which is now highly polished, and provides exactly what I and many other people have wanted from a social network. The exact numbers of users who actually actively use it may not be clear, but if it was a waste land, Google wouldn't be integrating all their services so tightly into it. Google is not a stupid company, and they're not about to "break" all of their services to drive adoption of a service which can't stand on its own. G+ is a good service, and is providing massive amounts of value to Google. Reader was not creating new value for them; wave wasn't getting adopted; Google had reasons why continuing to support those products was a losing bet. They are integrating so many of their services into G+, that you can pretty much guarantee that it's a winner (for them, at least). </rant>

bernardlunn 14y ago
Social is inevitably a winner take all market, so in this case the ignoramuses who never use G+ who declare it dead are probably right. Its not about great features, just ask FriendFeed.
- jmtulloss 14y ago
  Why do you believe that social is a winner take all market?
  - philwelch 14y ago
    Metcalfe's Law.
    - magicalist 14y ago

antoinec 14y ago

Google Maps/Earth, Android, I wouldn't call that mediocre and not innovative...

bifrost 14y ago
Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years. Android is neat, but its not innovative either. The only reason I use one is because of the wide variety of HW available.
- tomkarlo 14y ago
  There's been a ton of new features on maps over the past few years, including indoor maps, indoor streetview, transit info and all kinds of new aerial views. I'm not sure what you'd want from them... after all, they are still a map service. http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/ http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/
- jacquesm 14y ago
  > Maps/Earth are cool, but they've stagnated, Barely changed in the last few years. That's a feature, not a bug. I actually like the way maps works right now, I would not want change just for its own sake.
- antoinec 14y ago
  If you think android is not innovative, then I guess google search isn't innovative either: search engine existed before google.
danieldk 14y ago
And yet, I have to resort to Garmin software and maps to do real trip planning (cycling, hiking, and even driving).
- tomkarlo 14y ago
  At least in my experience (in the US) the maps data on Google is much better for cycling routes, partially because users can go in and submit fixes, which I don't believe you can do for the Garmin data.

snogglethorpe 14y ago

You're nuts. Google certainly has some mediocre "products," but they have many great products as well besides search. Gmail, of course, essentially sets the bar for online mail, and is still leaps and bounds better than any of its competitors. Google maps is very, very, good, vastly better than most of the competition (a point made starkly clear by Apple's recent maps C-F). Google+ is, technically, absolutely excellent, much better than FB. If all your old high-school buddies are only on FB, it's a shame, but there's not much Google can do about that. Android is vastly better than iOS (I use both, and using iOS always makes it feel like my hands are tied behind my back). ...etc. Google has its downsides (e.g. their online support sucks), and you may not like them for other reasons, but they're very, very, good at writing software...

shurcooL 14y ago
> Android is vastly better than iOS (I use both, and using iOS always makes it feel like my hands are tied behind my back). For me, I feel like I have 2 hands when using iOS but 17 hands when using Android. It asked me to pick one of 3 power-savings modes for Wi-Fi when in sleep mode. I don't want to have to care about that (nor do I want to pick one of the three options without thinking, because then I'll not have an optimal configuration). I have enough things to tweak on my computer.
- timmm 14y ago
  Yeah I get that, you might like Google maps more if say you cared about the actual maps.
  - 6d0debc071 14y ago
    That'd be Bing maps then - which I use pretty much exclusively these days.
    - DigitalTurk 14y ago
      Bing is great… unless you travel. It fails for many countries. Even for major cities in China it will only show the main roads.

wyclif 14y ago

As soon as I read "Plus is a wasteland", I knew you had no idea what you were talking about, and stopped reading.

bergie 14y ago
Indeed. Communities has made G+ something I read multiple times a day, at the expense of Twitter

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]