Google and Telling vs Google and Doing
December 22, 2010
I am 3,000 miles from Kentucky. From this vantage point, explanations about Google look different. I noted that the FCC thinks Android has a part to play in net neutrality. Okay, sounds good in Washington, DC and among the azure chip consultants, I suppose. Looks silly from here. Then I read “Google’s Big Problem: It Ain’t What You Think” and noted this passage:
Google is like an old dog trying to learn new tricks. The good news is that Google isn’t that old, and more importantly, the company knows it has a problem and is trying to find ways to fix it.  Rubin isn’t the only Google executive who has been vocal about building better user experiences. David Girouard, who heads up Google’s cloud efforts, told me the company is working on building better user experiences for their apps as well as other Google offerings.
The goose likes “ain’t”. Very Kentucky. However, the point is that Google wizards talking is not the same as doing. What Google does speaks volumes. What Google says is pretty much like those hot dogs that the Illinois State Fair once permitted. You knew what a hot dog looked like. You did not know exactly what was inside. Google has flummoxed the poobahs, the SEO crowd, and a number of other folks. These actions cannot change three points that I have noted:
First, as we enter 2011, Facebook has momentum. Google is in scramble mode.
Second, Google’s new products such as the Google TV are not ready for prime time, and in that gap between talk and doing,there may be some opportunities for companies like Netflix and its new pal Amazon plus some other folks.
Third, Google has managed to get itself into an interesting game of 3D chess. In addition to battles with legal pawns worldwide, Google has to cope with a frisky Steve Jobs, a blood sniffing Microsoft, and a group of enterprise software companies that includes IBM and Oracle who seem less than ambivalent about protecting their existing revenue streams.
So how is user experience going to blunt these points? If you know the answer, snap up some Google shares and bet on the Math Club. Your broker may be working today. I won’t be calling my crazed 30 year old wheeler dealer, however.
Stephen E Arnold, December 22, 2010
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
