Crazy Little Thing called (Google) Love

June 7th, 2006 § 0 comments § permalink

People are lapping it up.

Google launched Spreadsheet on Tuesday and it was promptly covered. There’s a rumour about Picasa coming as a Web-based version soon. Anything Google releases is a matter of hot contention. It is not a question to ponder whether the interest in the product will be sustained or will die off the very next day itself. As long as it exists in the minds of the people, it will always bring in the hits.

You may call me a Google-basher, if you wish, but it still baffles me why Google should churn out these services at such a high rate. There are so many better things to do! Like, for example, they could actually be fine tuning their Search algorithm or re-inventing it.

Maybe they are already doing it and these things are simply to throw the hounds off the scent. Or maybe, they don’t have a clue where they should be headed now. Whichever it is, the big picture is really hard to see right now.

In the last year, since the advent of Gmail, AJAX and Web 2.0, Google has been building up a veritable repository of Apps, sorry, FREE apps for the *public*. What they did not create, they bought. And what they could not buy, they bought the competition and gave it away for free.

Again, the concept of Contextual Text-Ads worked fine, but then other players have now entered the Market and they are slowly eating up into the marketshare. Not that it is going to affect Google’s ‘economy’ much, but yet, it is something Google cannot ignore for long.

Let’s take a look at the facts:

  1. Google has built up a large user-base based on one single product – Search.
  2. Google has introduced various offerings into the Webosphere, definitely keeping up with the trends. Yet, there has been no visible innovation seen in the recent times.
  3. Every new Google product or offering has one result assured – Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore it.
  4. And lastly, each of the newer Google products is *loosely* integrated with the other ones.

Take a look at the last one again. There are no links from any of the Google apps to the others, save for the standard footer (which is ignored most of the time). Except for a few isolated examples (Maps and Calendar in Gmail) there have been very few instances of product integration. Why hasn’t Google integrated attachments with Writely and Google Video? Or with Google Base for that matter? Surely, it is not unimaginable? Why are they ignoring/neglecting/forgetting/overlooking/whatever such simple points? Or are they doing it deliberately?

One fine day, if they choose to bring all services (the old ones, the current and the new ones) under one umbrella, then this is what your typical day might look like:

7 AM. Wake up. Ready yourself for your daily work. Breakfast.
8 AM. Check Google Mail. Add client appointment(s) directly into Google Calendar. Check Google Traffic* for driving conditions and consult Google Maps for best route. Drive to Work.
9 AM. Reach Work. Open Gtalk. Your Calendar settings have been imported and all your appointments have been sent automatic reminder mails/notices about your meetings. Check your Gmail. Collaborate on Software Requirement Specifications and make changes with your colleague in Australia and save it immediately.
10 AM. Create a presentation for your Client meet using GPres* along with the same colleague in Australia. Simultaneously tabulate all the requisite data, draw up some quick formulae with the help of your colleague in Europe. Voila! Google Spreadsheet is ready with a cost estimate instantly!
11 PM. Client is online. (Need we mention free WiFi, here?) Hold a webmeeting with your client using Gtalk and conduct a video conference simultaneously. Close the deal and send a link to the already drawn up MoU and NDA along with the cost estimate that you just ruffled up with your colleague in Australia
1 PM. Open Google Search. Look for birthday Gifts for kids under ten years with a special interest in Pokemon. Find appropriate Gift. Pay using GMoney* and get it delivered instantly to your Office.
2 PM. Lunch Break
3 PM. Repeat steps 3 to 5
6 PM. Check your Gmail. Check for Google Calendar reminders/notices. Check Google Traffic* and Google Maps again. Drive home.

(*Coming Soon to a Browser near you. Please submit your eMail address for a special beta preview invite.)

The keen reader may observe that I have touched upon barely a few of the current offerings of Google. I have merely implied the potential what Google could capture with its current offerings. Whay are they holding back then? Is it to be a surprise attack, a Blitz-Krieg of some kind? If suddenly Google chooses to generate revenue out of all the (currently) free services

Google is building isolated chunk of applications. For us, they seem like unseemly, strange shapes. But they might well turn out to be smaller pieces of a mastermind Jigsaw puzzle. Google could well be on its way to building the only competition to, and yet not compete against Micro$oft.

Confused? Picture this: The Google WebOS and the Google Office.

The world is moving towards the virtual. Google might well stand to gain from this movement. At the same time as Google builds a monopoly on the Web, Microsoft keeps its monopoly on the Desktop. This might sound like a random conspiracy theory, but it is supported by hard facts.

Note that Google has not pushed any independent standards with any of its Applications. Writely supports .doc format as well as other formats. Spreadsheet claims “Familiar desktop feel” and that you can “Upload spreadsheets or worksheets from CSV or XLS format – all your formulas and formatting will come across intact.”

Wouldn’t a company seeking to remove M$ out of the competition promote other standards so that they could force the users out of the habit?

Consider this: Of late, there have not been any major innovations and releases in Google desktop paraphernelia. Those that are released have a distinct web connotation, for instance, GDS 4. In the other corner. M$ seems to have slowed down its work on the web front. Ray Ozzie and his Live clipboard are being handled by tech enthusiasts, who realize the implications of the tool. But the man himself, (Ray) seems to have faded somewhere into the horizon. The first impression of this is each of them is sticking to known battlegrounds.

And if they continue to do so, is it not a precursor of the things to follow? Is it really a random conspiracy theory, then?

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The Call – Part IV

May 10th, 2006 § 4 comments § permalink

The story so far:
The coicidences reveal themselves. Turns out he’s been talking to the grim reaper all this while. Struggling to get a hold on this revelation, he looks to clarify the situation. But it is difficult to hold a conversation, especially when you don’t know who you are talking to.And then there’s a knock on the door…

Sandy, his secretary, entered carrying a sheaf of papers, presumably more invoices for him to sign.She was engrossed in the papers. Silently, she approached his table, put the papers in front of him, and stood back and looked at him. And then, she noticed the little drops of perspiration on his fore-head.

“Is everything alright, sir? Are you ok?”

“Uhh, err.. no. I mean, yes, I am fine. Ummm… well… yeah, I am fine.”

He signed the papers and gave them back to her. It was an invoice for ordering some equipment. He flicked the thought away from his mind as soon as he registered it. Obviously, there were other more important things to think about.”

“Sandy, wait.” He called back after her. “You didn’t, by any chance, hear something strange outside, did you?”

She furrowed her brow in thought and replied slowly, “Now that you mention it, I think I heard something.”

“What? What did you hear?” He almost grabbed her. She was both bewildered and scared by his actions. He realized his foolishness and immediately let her go. Somewhat awkward and frightened, Sandy instinctively took a step back.

“I am… I am sorry.” He drew a long breath. “What was it that you heard?”

He had seen the expression of nervousness and panic beginning to set in on her face.

“Umm, well I thought I heard some noises in your room, and…” Sandy

“She’s right,” the voice again.

“Did you hear that?” he almost shouted to Sandy.

“Hear what?” Sandy asked, with a hint of apprehension and confusion in her voice which had already reached the tremolo point.

“C’mon, you think she can hear me? You know what, you gotta start believing in me by now.” the voice had a sadistic edge to it. It was as if the entity behind the voice was beginning to enjoy the beginning of an insanity. An insanity for which it was the cause.

“No… nothing. Forget it.”

“Are you sure? Do you want me to get you a doctor or something?” – Sandy again.

“No… no… it’s fine. I am fine…” he said.

“Sir, I think, I should – ”

“I SAID I AM FINE!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” This time he did shout.

Sandy looked at him in horror and with her slender little fingers on her mouth hastily stepped out. The office would start buzzing with the news in a short while now. But that was the least of his current concerns.

“Tch, tch. You shouldn’t have yelled at her like that. Poor thing. She’s all shaken up now. Look what you did to her…”

And then the walls in front of him dissolved into thin air and he saw a crowd outside, right in front of Sandy’s desk. She was sobbing and somebody passed he a Kleenex. She took the Kleenex and continued sobbing. One or two of the other employees, shot curious glances at his cabin door. The other women were trying to cajole her and console her. They tried, at the same time, to coax her to tell them what had happened.

And then the opacity of the walls returned and all was as before.

He groaned and made for his chair.

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The Call – Part III

May 10th, 2006 § 8 comments § permalink

The story until now:A bizarre series of coincidences has left him wondering. Apparently, he is not accustomed to things going perfectly well in his life. While he is wondering about these banalities, something strange happens…

Strangely, he remained calm and unperturbed.I can’t possibly have heard that, he thought, I must be hallucinating.

“No, you’re not.”

Again. The same voice.

“Who are you?” His voice betrayed a hint of fear.

There was no answer.

“Hello?? Are you there?”

“Yes. I am here.”

“But, who are you?”

“How does it matter?”

“Erm, I think, I need to know who I am talking to, I guess…”

“Why?”

Beacuse, I can’t be talking to a voice, he wanted to say. But he thought better of it and instead said, “It’s better that way, I think”

“What if I told you I am no one? What if I told you I am simply a voice?”

He looked up, startled. Could this thing, this voice, read his mind? Did it read his mind? Or was it a lucky coincidence? Who was it? Rather, what was it? Before he could say anything, the voice prodded on.

“What if I told you I am real and yet unreal? That I am everywhere and yet nowhere? That I am no one and everyone? That I am what you belive and what you don’t? What if I said, I am right here, where you can see me, and yet you cannot, or rather, don’t want to? Would you believe me, then?”

“No way! That’s impossible!”

“Why?”

“Because, then you would have to be God!”

“Good, that’s close enough.”

“What?”

“You heard me the first time.”

He reeled back, trying to comprehend the situation. This can’t be happening, he thought to himself. I can’t be talking to… to… He couldn’t bring himself to utter the words.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be so naive! You have been expecting me haven’t you?”

“What? No, no… You… I… No… Wait, there’s -”

” – nothing to say.” The voice jutted in. “It’s time now. Let’s start, before we get too late.”

So, this is it? This is how it happens? I had imagined it to be a little more grand. I think I deserve much better. Wait a minute, you can read my thoughts, can’t you? You know what I am thinking. Why don’t you answer me, then?

At that precise moment, there was a knock, and the door opened.

To be continued…

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WebOS and my conversations

May 2nd, 2006 § 5 comments § permalink

My last post on WebOSes and the corresponding comments on ZDNet and Performancing resulted in interesting conversations.

Performancing users and authors had very interesting opinions. Dave, for instance, said:

…they could bring down the price of computing massively. All you would need on a desktop is effectively a thin client that handles inputs and outputs, and
connects to the internet.

… while georgemanty was worried about security:

Do I really want a third party to have access to everything on my computer’s hard drive???

searchengineblog put it really well with:

The problem is that there is no problem to be solved. In 2006, fat clients (read: PCs) aren’t expensive – bandwidth is.

The security concerns do make a valid point. But I guess, with the way things are moving, third-party storage (read: online storage with desktop synchro) is the thing to watch out for in the near future.

Technology has not only enabled cheaper and communication, but it has also been revamping the field of transportation. As travel becomes cheap, we will find ourselves at different places at different times. And then we will need one central location to store our data. Which is where third-party storage comes in.

One option would be a personal FTP server. Like your hard-disk away from your PC. Again, the only hindrance I see currently is the band-width (in terms of access). Thus it boils down, essentially, to two things:

  1. A radically new, faster method of accessing the internet.Condition: It must support huge amounts of bandwidth so as to enable each one of the 6 billion people whoo will soon be online in the near future.
  2. A safe and secure online storage system.Condition: The privacy concerns of the users must be put to rest. Each such third-party supplier must be liable for any leakage of information (intentional, or otherwise) occurring from their servers.

On ZDNet, 3D0G said:

There are still far to many people out there using computers who have no
clue how computers work and don’t want to know. They just want to browse the web and read email. There are also many people who know they know nothing about computers and so don’t buy one. Something like this would at least open the internet and email up to them

This would be like saying, we need hand-cranked cars because some old-timers cannot adopt to automatic transmission. Not a very good analogy, I agree, but just because people don’t know how to use the net does not mean we step back to thin-clients.

A similar attempt was made (if my memory serves me correctly) with public Internet Access kiosks (at least in India) But it was a huge failure, simply because:

  1. People did not want to make their ignorance of the Internet public.
  2. The kiosks were not supported by adequate bandwidth. They were too slow.
  3. The thin clients were actually confusing and they allowed only one browser window – no tabs back then.
  4. Around 25% of the screen space was consumed by ads that were run to support the costs of running these kiosks.

I have realized that, the more you attempt to make technology easier for people, the lazier they become. “Give a man fish to eat, he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will never go hungry for the rest of his life.”

If there are any such laymen, we need to teach them how to surf the waves and not try and make things easier for them. Simplicity does not always mean simplifying the product. It could also mean simplifying the process.

Let’s face it, the internet is a skill and not a toy. You have to learn it and the more inquisitive can even attempt to master it. Any attempt to simplify things further will only allow the lazy to become lazier. Do we really need WebOSes? The argument of thin-clients and simplification of things seems pretty thin to me…

I mean, is it really that difficult?

(It’s a pity that I have to summarize my Blogosphere Conversations here.)

Web2.0, WebOS, WebOffice, We… Whatever.

April 25th, 2006 § 6 comments § permalink

The WebOS Market Review by Richard MacManus delves into the WebOS market, which is currently being played by small-timers like YouOS, eyeOS, XIN, etc. A WebOS is an OS on the Web that allows you to browse, eMail, chat, etc. Basically, the online counterpart of your desktop OS.

Ok. Stop. Let’s go back to that last one. Online counterpart of an OS? uhh, erm…

Hmm. Let’s try Wikipedia. Wikipedia defines WebOS as:

More generally, WebOS refers to a software platform that interacts with the user
through a web browser and does not depend on any particular local
operating system.

What? Let’s go through this one more time, step-by-step:

I boot my desktop OS. I fire my desktop browser. I connect to the World Wide Web. I access the WebOS. I see my WebDesktop. Now what? I fire up my WebBrowser and access the Internet again?

Er, excuse me, but isn’t that where I am already? So, which one is my, ‘true’, definitive OS? The one I booted to fire the (desktop) Browser, or the one that I accessed on the web? Moreover, how would you access such an OS in the future, given this logical inconsistency?

When I put forth this question, AutomanG replied with the following:

One solution would be to have something, say…, linux embedded into a box that’s sole purpose is to fire up a browser and initiate a tunnel to a remote server (where your webOS of choice is located.) It would be a borderless browser so to you, it would look just like you booted a computer arriving at a desktop.

This sounds really weird! No offense meant, but I just want to explore this a bit further:

Currently, looking at the larger picture, we have three OSes in the Desktop Market. Windows, Linux and MacOS. With this proposal the intention to make Linux a standard (irrespective of whether all people want it or not). Or Windows or MacOS. Some OS which can be universally accepted and moulded as and when need be. Which inevitably brings us back to Linux.

Agree though, the argument that Automan provides makes some sense on some level. Okay, it doesn’t matter what boots the embedded browser as long as what they see on their screens is the same all throughout. Interesting point, I admit.

But again, then there are many options for WebOSes now. There will come a time when we will have to choose one of them as a standard, or maybe, define some standard specs for a WebOS. How do you do that, then?

And if you were to do it later, why not do it now for the desktop OSes? And if you intend to write embedded software to run the necessary hardware, it still is an OS!

I still can’t fathom the need for a WebOS. The ability to store data online, more than makes up for the inability to access my personal desktop everywhere. After all the applications that you intend to put on the Web will be run by their desktop counterparts. What is the point?

Ok, I guess, I oughtta stop. I sound almost desparate now!

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Foldera, Google, Marc Orchant and me – Odd man out!

April 19th, 2006 § 2 comments § permalink

Over at ZDNet, Marc Orchant has this to say in his article Foldera: Measure twice… cut once:

I applaud this strategy. The more forethought and preparation put into the launch, the better.

Marc was talking about the eMail sent out by Foldera CEO Marc Orchant stating that Foldera is postponing its launch, simply because:

“we didn’t have the firepower in our datacenter to handle the sort of demand indicated by so many registrations.”

I wish to make it known for the record, I haven’t received the mail, this snippet has been extracted from the mail extract that Marc posted in the article.

Marc goes on to say that even after the resounding success of Gmail and the early frustrations of Gmail users, Google did not learn. The result was apparent for everyone to see with the initial pull-backs of Reader and Pages.

Some (personal) observations:

  1. Personally, I believe Google did not pull back Pages because of high demand. It was probably due to a bigger glitch, something I have previously blogged about.
  2. Foldera may be stretching the public interest a little too far. Going by the conversation on Mike Arrington’s Techcrunch, Foldera should have been launched and here many times over by now.
  3. However, interesting a tool may be, the longer you take to launch, the shorter the buzz post-launch.

At least that’s what I think happened with Origami. Of course, Origami was a little early, about three years early, by my guess. In a world where laptops and palm-pilots have not yet become commonplace, introducing a gadget that was a level up in the futuristic scale seemed to me, a crazy idea.

One thing I have realized so far is:

“You can’t hurry up or slow down the future. It comes when it comes. You better be prepared for either case.” Probably that’s what Foldera is thinking. Or are they?

PS: I have decided to be a little more regular now. Hope to live upto my words…

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The Call – Part 2

April 12th, 2006 § 4 comments § permalink

The story until now:
He met someone he did not expect to meet. And he was given a deadline. He knew there was no choice but to accept it. Which he did.The story continues.

He didn’t realise that he was standing.A few minutes must have passed, he thought to himself.

He looked at his watch. Eleven thirty-five. Hmm, hardly a few minutes had passed. But he now knew what he had to do.

He stood up and walked out of the room.

****

The night was chilly. Only the foolhardy or the young could have dared to venture out.

He was neither. He was just a man bound to fate, following meekly in the footsteps of his destiny. And she had been a bitch. At least, that was what he thought.

He wrapped the trench coat tighter around himself and strode on.

He passed a tramp searcing for his dinner among the trash cans. And judging by the size of his loot, the exercise had not been fruitless. In fact it had been anything but fruitless. He stopped on the far side of the road for a few moments to savour the expression of delight on the tramp’s face.

Funny, he mused to himself, we give without realizing the joy of giving. And here I am, giving away something I would never dream of parting with…

He shook of the thoughts and some of the winter chill and strode on.

He tried to focus on the events of the day.

*****
It had been a bizarre day, to say the least. Everything had gone perfectly well.

His office staff had been on time. His secretary had soprted all the letters correctly. The few calls he made to partners had gone suprisingly well and pleasant. Everything was surprisingly in tune, as if somebody was giving him a sign. Or may be it was his own cynicism, which he himself admitted, (in solitude, never in public) had grown unbearable of late.

By lunch time, things had settled to a fine smooth cruise, again, something he had not been accustomed to, of late. Bt he shrugged it off as a good day among the bad ones and concentrated on his tasks for the day.

And then things started to happen.

A precious Ming vase had fallen off the mantle-piece, apparently unaided. And yet, sa it fell, something (?) had miraculously swept a sheaf of papers underneath and it had landed softly.

The result: an unbroken vase and a messy office, with papers strewn around.

Then again, there was a note from his wife in his lunch box. There were two things about the lunch box that surprised him.

One was the note and the other was the Lunch box itself. In their twenty years of married life, he could never recall his wife sending him home-made lunch, much less, a note in his lunch.

Was it a coincidence? Or was it… He chose to shrug it off and opened the lunch box. The aroma that arose from the box was heavenly. And he began to wolf it down.

Once he had finished eating, he turned his attention towards the note. It bore the unmistakably simple, elegant writing of his wife. On the note were written four simple words, the fourth one being her signature.

Three words that they had uttered to each other countless time in the past and yet, in a way, left unspoken. Three words that had become a standard way of greeting farewell to each other – over the phone, while leaving for work…

And then suddenly, those three words had appeared as if out of nowhere, as if to remind him that she was there no matter what…

Wait a second, I am getting paranoid, he thought to himself. Nothing’s gonna happen to me.

And then he heard two simple words.

They were faint, as if in the distance. But they were there. Hanging in the silence, that had suddenly encompassed the entire of his being. Two simple words. Two words that defied his optimism and cynicism at the same time mocking him and showing him the truth behind his illusions of grandeur. Two words that brought the world down to its knees.

“Oh, really?”

To be continued

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