As I explore the new social offering from Google, Google+ (the cool kids are already calling it G+), I wonder who—beyond the early adopter crowd—will really take to using it. What differentiates Google+ from its largest competitors, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? What’s good? What needs work? Here’s my early take on the experience of using the site.
I’m currently involved in the final stage of a competitive RFP for a HUGE well known international brand. As part of the pitch process, the brand issued the following hypothetical challenge:
The goal is to grow the business by creating an entirely new gadget set to become the single most used device in history.
Come up with the design for the most innovative idea since the radio, television, personal computer or iPhone? No pressure.
Most Internet users have a very clearly defined mental model of “search.” The search process is an explicit activity that includes the following steps: a user visits a destination (search engine), enters a search query, processes the displayed results and selects the item that appears to be the most relevant to their query. Search engines have made progressive enhancements to serve more relevant results and help users refine their queries, but the overall process hasn’t changed much in well over a decade. Some say this paradigm is compromised; full of spam and easy to game.
Commercials are an annoyance that we’ve learned to tolerate.
Commercials are annoying. Sure, every once in a while there’s a commercial that does a fine job of storytelling, capturing viewer attention and even becoming part of the cultural fabric. But these types of advertisements are the exception.
Commercials are intrusive. They’re fast-forwarded through—an excuse to run to the bathroom. Commercials are an annoyance that we’ve learned to tolerate as television viewers/radio listeners. We’ve been conditioned to believe that this invasive style of advertising is a necessity that must be endured in order to enjoy quality content.
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Nerds love Quora – a user generated content site that focuses on posting questions and answers within a multitude of topics. It’s all the rage right now with the early-adopter social/technophile set (like yours truly). Some are predicting that Quora will be the next big thing in 2011.
I’m not planning on buying an iPad… yet. I’ve played with one, and it truly isn’t much more than an XL iPod Touch. It’s a worthy first step. A very nice personal email, web browsing, casual gaming and photo/video viewing device. Emphasis on personal—the iPad is not built for sharing.
What’s missing at this point is how the iPad fits into the big picture in terms of the family media center. What’s lacking is the capability to access a network where data can be stored, streamed and shared among an authorized group of users. Apple’s iPad is piece of the puzzle (a puzzle that Apple’s engineers are undoubtedly working toward completing); I’d like to examine how the pieces will come together through ongoing developments in delivering high-bandwidth streaming media via wifi networks and data storage in the cloud.
