Google or Mobile Me?

August 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new iPhone, but am I doing it an injustice by not taking advantage of the Mobile Me services?

As an admitted fanatic of all things new and a complete dork when it comes to evangelizing and utilizing new social media tools, I’m finding it hard to convince myself that the Mac’s new Mobile Me is worth the $99 a year it’s selling for.

I’ve been a Gmail user since late 2004 and an quickly made it my primary email for all things, business and personal. I also was one of the first in my circle of friends to make the full-time transition to gTalk. I can remember downloading it the first night it was released and practically begging other people to download so I would have someone to chat with on it. Now, knowing someone that’s not on gTalk is the exception and not the rule. The list goes on and on with Google Reader (sorry Bloglines) and Google Docs and Spreadsheets, etc.

Mobile Me offers push email services and OTA syncing with your calendar and contacts as well as photo and file integration (those are at least the major points). Still, is what you get really worth the price?

I want to believe. I want to drink a big glass full of that kool-aid Steve Jobs stirred with his passionate fist, but I just can’t justify it. I would love to hear some success stories about Mobile Me if anyone has signed up and had it absolutely change your life. I mean, getting your email pushed instantly to your iPhone rather than waiting 15 minutes for (although it’s never taken more than a couple of minutes for me) for your Gmail to come in.

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Google Opens NYC Office, Has Kickass Cafeteria Menu and Sweet Lego Sculptures

October 3, 2006 By Leave a Comment

krispy_kreme_burgerYesterday was the first official day at the new NYC offices of Google.

The company has three floors in a building that stretches from Eighth Avenue to Ninth Avenue and from 15th Street to 16th Street, a few blocks west of Union Square. The workspace is light and airy and built around the concept of working in teams, with people sharing offices and cubicles connected in groups. Along with a cafeteria and a game room, there are snack stations throughout the office.

The NYC offices were the base for the project that eventually became Google Maps.

google_lego

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MySpace is the new #1 Site on the Web

July 12, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Hitwise is reporting that for the first time ever this week MySpace.com beat out Yahoo Mail as well as Yahoo and Google’s homepages for the most unique visits.

MySpace accounted for 4.46% of all U.S. internet visits for the week ending July 8. They also captured 80% of all visits to a social networking site (up from 76%) and surprisingly enough MySpace also accounted for 99.97% of all scantily clad underage girls on the internet.

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(212) 340-0849: The Telephone Reference Service of the New York Public Library

June 19, 2006 By Leave a Comment

new_york_public_libraryDo you like using Google to look up obscure facts but miss the warm, soothing voice of a human on the opposite end of a telephone line? You’re in luck.

Everyday except Sunday, eight women and two men provide the telephone reference service of the New York Public Library system. The telephone reference service has been around since 1968. Anyone from anywhere can call (212) 340-0849 and ask any question. The researchers have five minutes to come up with the answer.

What country had the first license plates? What is the life cycle of an eyebrow hair? What is arachibutyrophobia? How does a person get out of quicksand?

France; 150 days; fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth; don’t thrash, ease to the surface, float.

The next time you’re stumped on Google, or can’t come up with a way to phrase a question that gives you less than a bilion results, give good, old fashioned human research a try.

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Google Talk Lacks Actual Users to Talk To

October 16, 2005 By Leave a Comment

There, I said it. I’ve had Google’s new IM client since the day it was released and I just have one thing to say about it. It sucks. Do you want to know why it sucks? Because nobody fucking uses it! Everyone’s been using AIM or Yahoo or MSN Messenger, and who the hell wants to switch.

I love gTalk’s UI. I like the fact that there aren’t ads everywhere and the chat windows are simple and clean. But what good is it when you can’t talk to anyone on it? Yeah you can make PC to PC calls, but Skype pretty much had the market locked up on that one and now you can do that with Yahoo! Messenger too.

When gTalk came out there were a few people that downloaded it, then slowly but surely they stopped showing up as online. Of course this could be less that gTalk sucks and more that people just really dislike me, but I’m dismissing that notion for the sake of this story.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Google believer. I like their products, I’m a gmail junkie. I just can’t keep justifying keeping an IM client that no one I know is using. Admittedly, it’s hard to switch IM clients. You have your entire contact list already, and unless you can convince everyone of them to make the switch with you, being an gTalk pioneer can be a lonely, lonely venture.

Do you think gTalk is too plain for people? Do other people like the flash and the smiley crap that’s on all the other clients? Maybe so, but until Google can come up with some better incentives they’re gTalk is going to be sucking more daily. Especially now that Yahoo and MSN have announced their plans to make their IM clients compatible. gTalk is in for some hard times unless it can convince people to switch. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.

Editors note 11/08/2008: Looking back on this post is pretty funny. When I actually do use IM these days I don’t know anyone that isn’t on gTalk. Although I still stick by the fact that I was literally one of the first people to download it when they snuck out a release late one night.

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