shiv.me

02.10.10

And another thing about Google Buzz

There are several issues that people have uncovered in the last 2 days that it has existed. For me, of all the features that Buzz lacks, one thing really stands out. There is no way to just see a list of the conversations (without the whole list of comments expanded by default). This is the main reason that I *had* to unfollow Scoble, Michael Arrington, Louis Gray and a bunch of others. Take a look at this conversation, and you would understand why.

Every time, anyone, replied to that thread (which incidently has been at the top of scoble’s buzz list all day), it would become the top post on my buzz view as well.  Now you are thinking, “Well, Buzz was not meant for long conversations”. Go back and read the comments on that conversation .. all 350+ of them, and come back here.

Note to Google Buzz Developers: Now that truly sucks, and is such a trivial use-case that I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets fixed in a day or two … it better if you want Scoble to continue to use it (and we all know how vital that is for any social network’s success).

So here’s my humble request: PLEASE LET ME MINIMIZE HUGE-ASS THREADS

Google has already done this with Google Reader, where you can just see a list of items, or see them expanded. I don’t see any reason why this wasn’t the case, out of the box, for Buzz. In end, the only conclusion that I can think of is that, this pre-pre-alpha from a user experience perspective, and somehow all the design gurus (the ones who kept the Google page clean all these years), have disappeared into the user.

Google Buzz is by far, the clumsiest google product, with almost zero forethought to how users, will use it. It’s almost as if, none of the enigneers/designers on the Buzz have ever used twitter or facebook or friendfeed. Somehow I find that hard to believe. I’m hoping they’ll fix some, if not all the usability issues very soon.

Iterate guys! Iterate! Fast and hard.

02.10.10

Google likes RSS .. a lot

Did anyone else notice that buzz has an RSS feed for everything!!

Here’s a conversation that @Thomashawk started

Here’s the feed for that entry

Here’s the feed for the owner’s entries

Theoretically, one could build a service that aggregates only specific conversations (and keep them updated), or only a small group etc… No more reading data from a firehose!!

That is very nice.

P.S: also this could be a way to aggregate all your webservices into one super feed, that can then be posted elsewhere (comments and all!!)

The power is endless, so be cautious when exercising it

02.4.10

iPad is iBad petition

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/ipad

If you think that the iPad is promoting DRM of apps that will lead computing in a direction that will undermine the freedom that we currently are enjoying, freedom the seeds of which have been sown over the last few decades, the visit the link above and sign the petition.

02.3.10

I too have something to say about the iPad…

Or so I thought. Then I realized with every single one of them writing pages upon pages of commentary, I’m not going to bring in too much insight. I’ve hence, tried to curate some interesting articles that I found. You’ve probably read most of them already, but in case you have been in a di-lithium mine on Remus. Yup! That’s right, I do like Star Trek. Now do you understand why I loathe – hate – despise what has been done to the iPad!! PADD!! arrrrggghhh! serenity now! serenity now!

There mainly 3 kinds of responses to the iPad

1. grumbling about the lack of features/hardware/standards

2. Its v2.0 of the tablet that moses used

3. It’s evil. It’s the end of computing as we know it

I’m not going to bother to classify the links below into the above categories ( some overlap ).

http://stevenf.tumblr.com/post/359224392/i-need-to-talk-to-you-about-computers-ive-been

http://www.zeldman.com/2010/02/01/flash-ipad-standards/

http://lifehacker.com/5458690/the-problem-with-the-apple-ipad

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/02/02/apple-stanza-usb

http://www.scripting.com/stories/2010/01/29/attnJoeShouldWeTrustIpad.html

http://www.scripting.com/stories/2010/01/30/moreIpadThoughts.html

http://al3x.net/2010/01/28/ipad.html

http://blog.louisgray.com/2010/01/ipad-wins-with-casual-computing-and.html

http://inessential.com/2010/01/27/bad_gravity

http://joehewitt.com/post/ipad/

http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2010/Jan-29.html

t3rmin4t0r, had something interesting to say, about censorship in Australia. I think it applies quite a bit to what Apple is doing to all those who enjoy the freedom of tinkering with our computers.

Any country attempting to close its internet borders in the name of censorship should be defeated, for the fear of setting a precedent. Censorship anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere.

I don’t believe Apple is evil. Well, at least, they are not the only company that is “evil”. I do know that they are a teeny bit hypocirtical.

Oh yeah, about the iPad .. I’ve decided not to lease buy the iPad until

• There is a way other than Apple controlled store,
• Or, Apple open-sources its OS
• Or, Apple stops rejecting apps (any app – even the crappy kinds)

I was but 4 years old when Steve Jobs said

It appears IBM wants it all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms now fear an IBM-dominated and -controlled future. They are increasingly turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom. IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple. Will Big Bluedominate the entire computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right?

It’s been 25 years, and I fear that George Orwell might have been right after all!

– peace out –

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