Monday, February 15, 2010

The deafening sound of Google Buzz from the magical internet.

Is it just me or is every blogger/techie on the planet talking about how great Google Buzz is?! Although I have not seen anything tell me how they are using it and why it is so great. I hear all these generic comments about...."It's in Gmail, blah blah, Its a game changer, blah blah..." I love all things Google, including Buzz but, cmon! I don't see an easy way to access settings, and if you subscribe to one REALLY popular Buzzr like Mashable, you are screwed! You are flooded with messages and comments and it turns into a useless mess of "stuff".

So many comparisons are being made between the obvious (Twitter/Facebook) with all these crazy statistics being thrown around, about how many times Buzz has been accessed, how many people check it. (I read somewhere it was like 200 people check Buzz every second, if I find it I will post the link) and if I hear one more person say its a game changer I'm gonna hit them with a wireless keyboard I swear! "Its a game changer because....blah blah...generic statement...blah blah." C'mon...seriously?! I mean I think its cool, and it could really make social media easier to use by streamlining it, but the term "game changer" means just that, this is like a "game power up". Its like the socialblogospherenet just ate a magic mushroom in Super Mario Brother 3, it just got really big very quickly, and now has the potential to really do some damage.

In its current form there is no game changing anything going on. Its more for me to filter every day, and forget posting anything cause you get drowned out by everyone else posting and saying "look I'm here too, follow me"!

I use it, I love it, and I will continue to! I hope Google adds some of the functions we love from other networks, and maybe they will introduce some new, cooler stuff too! I also help the whole Reader/Buzz/Profile integration thing gets either totally merged or at least clarified. What a mess! I have buzzes, waves, starred items, shared items, likes, follows, trends, interesting stuff, recommendations, ARGH!

Not to mention my bookmarks in Google Notebook that isn't even supported anymore, Bookmarks in Google Docs that Chrome created, the list of stuff grows and grows.

Google I love all your cool stuff, and will continue to use anything you release, but lets really focus on streamlining! I think that Buzz is a good first step in that direction, and I'm hoping it's just the beginning.

bad joke alert
I just hope I won't be "Waving" bye bye to the Buzz just cause...well...no one "got it". (Get it....Waving....like as in Google Wave) Ugh....terrible joke, I knew it.

Now...lets talk about Google videos. (ha)

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

What is all the Google "Buzz" about?

Google announced Google Buzz today which looks like an incredible new way to read, respond to, and filter through all the waves of "stuff" that we get each and every day. This includes photos from Picasa and Flickr, videos from places like YouTube, and all those friend feeds, twitter streams, Facebook updates, etc.

The idea is that since so many people use gmail as their nerve center for their daily information flow Google Buzz will integrate all that info right into gmail. That way it will be in a familiar format that you can go through. You will be able to use your gmail shortcut keys which will make it super fast to go through everything, I love this!

Google Buzz will be rolled out today and all of us should have it "very soon".

I'm really looking forward to being able to manage all my info in one location. Right out of the box it will integrate with PubSubHub, meaning you can post from gmail to it. Posting to other places was also mentioned as a feature in development.

Check out the official Google Buzz Page

Monday, February 08, 2010

Are you ready for some social media updates in your Gmail? FINALLY!

I use the magical Google for everything I do. Gmail, Picasa, YouTube, Blogger, the list goes on and on. Well it looks like tomorrow (2/9/2010) Google *might* be unveiling some new features in Gmail that will add some integration with social media sites. As of now the details over at Mashable via The Wall Street Journal are a little vague, but it got my attention! I'm really hoping the magical Google has come up with some kind of game-changing features that will make life much easier when updating all your "stuff"

Take a look at the story on Mashable from the link below.
HUGE: Google Set to Make Gmail Social With Status Update Features