Surpassing Yahoo! Search directory and indexes a decade ago, they let you search things online, things that you probably never will manage to find by trying out random keywords followed by “.com” on the URL bar. Not losing out to Hotmail which offered 2MB and Yahoo! Mail which offered 3.5MB during the ‘good old days’, they started an email system that gives you several Gigabytes of space in your inbox, which was virtually unheard of during those days.
And though Facebook took and lead in social networks and and proved that it is going to be revolutionizing the web and business world somehow, Google has decided to join in the fun. The public profile page is like a lite version of Facebook’s profile page and Buzz’s advantage over Google Wave (which haven’t seem to take off at all; I don’t really use it though I have an account and plenty of inactive friend on it) is that you don’t require a ‘separate’ sort of account with Google, it comes right in your Gmail system.
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And the success of introducing this feature as part of the Gmail system is reflected by the fact that millions of users responded with feedbacks and concerns. Google is using its size to its advantage this time and their fine-tuning and feedback gathering process is going to be important, just as it is for any new products. That’s probably why they should lend a ear to what Farhad Manjoo have to say on Slate.com about What’s Wrong With Android?
I like using Google & Gmail. The unfortunate thing about Google Wave & Buzz is that it comes “too little, too late” and that it’s not as entertaining as Facebook is, with all the apps. I’m always on Facebook but I’m not always on Gmail. It will take much creativity for Google to snatch over or attract netizens to stay with their Google Wave & Buzz.
Louis Gray and Chris Saad on what buzz is, and should be about. Although of course, none of it really matters if you do not already blog via email, and/or employ so many forms of social networks/sharing mechanisms (facebook/twitter/friendfeed/google reader/tumblr) that content creation/aggregation becomes an issue. Actually, nothing really matters when you’re in the mainstream – it will only matter when you’re at the margin, immersed in the process of figuring out, and providing user feedback to service providers. And this process of observation and participation applies not only to web technology, but to almost anything in life: shopping/literature/design/what-have-you.