Comments on: Google Buzz http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/ Computer Science and Teaching and Other Ancillary Things Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:52:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Peter Boothe http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/comment-page-1/#comment-16808 Peter Boothe Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:41:15 +0000 http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/#comment-16808 They've been remarkably good at maintaining a human facade until recently. Perhaps *that* is the remarkable thing, rather than the fact that the facade is now slipping. They've been remarkably good at maintaining a human facade until recently. Perhaps *that* is the remarkable thing, rather than the fact that the facade is now slipping.

]]> By: Steuard http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/comment-page-1/#comment-16807 Steuard Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:49:36 +0000 http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/#comment-16807 This post captures a lot of my frustration with the Buzz release, too. The current response is better, but much of it still reads like "sorry things looked bad" rather than "sorry things were bad".<br><br>I wish that rather than these fairly general statements, someone at Google would sit down and post a FAQ that went through each common complaint and either said, "This looked like a problem but actually wasn't, because...," or, "This really was a problem that we didn't foresee." Because I'm still not entirely sure which was which. And like you, I'd be especially happy if each of the latter items (at least) was accompanied by, "...and we're terribly sorry." This post captures a lot of my frustration with the Buzz release, too. The current response is better, but much of it still reads like “sorry things looked bad” rather than “sorry things were bad”.

I wish that rather than these fairly general statements, someone at Google would sit down and post a FAQ that went through each common complaint and either said, “This looked like a problem but actually wasn't, because…,” or, “This really was a problem that we didn't foresee.” Because I'm still not entirely sure which was which. And like you, I'd be especially happy if each of the latter items (at least) was accompanied by, “…and we're terribly sorry.”

]]> By: Erin http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/comment-page-1/#comment-16806 Erin Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:09:46 +0000 http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/#comment-16806 If you expect Google to react in a human way, you are confused re the entity that is "google". At one point in time, Google was Larry and Sergey. Now it is...maybe them? Maybe them hoping to make "Google" be perceived as they once were? Or, most likely, people hired by Google-as-it-is-now hoping not to ruin the idea of Google-as-it-once-was, which is to say, geeks of a certain caliber who, never-the-less, trade their potential for a name brand, a pay check, and a the belief that they are better, automatically.<br><br>What else did you expect, honestly? If you expect Google to react in a human way, you are confused re the entity that is “google”. At one point in time, Google was Larry and Sergey. Now it is…maybe them? Maybe them hoping to make “Google” be perceived as they once were? Or, most likely, people hired by Google-as-it-is-now hoping not to ruin the idea of Google-as-it-once-was, which is to say, geeks of a certain caliber who, never-the-less, trade their potential for a name brand, a pay check, and a the belief that they are better, automatically.

What else did you expect, honestly?

]]> By: Peter Boothe http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/comment-page-1/#comment-16805 Peter Boothe Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:02:27 +0000 http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/#comment-16805 Certainly better than before. The previous non-apology really stuck in my craw. This one is better, but a human would say something like "oops, this thing went wrong, I've disabled it for now, and am working to fix it" rather than waiting until it was ostensibly fixed to apologize for any brokenness. But you are totally correct to point out that the latest news from Google reads less like a press release than the previous missives.<br><br>There must be some fantastically frustrated and overtired nerds working behind the scenes. They are the ones I want to hear from. This whole fiasco seems like it stems from the choice to auto-populate the "buzz contact" database with gmail contacts. Who made that choice? Why did they make it? Do they regret it?<br><br>Anyhow, I hope Gmail isn't trying to become a Facebook clone. I need it for email... Certainly better than before. The previous non-apology really stuck in my craw. This one is better, but a human would say something like “oops, this thing went wrong, I've disabled it for now, and am working to fix it” rather than waiting until it was ostensibly fixed to apologize for any brokenness. But you are totally correct to point out that the latest news from Google reads less like a press release than the previous missives.

There must be some fantastically frustrated and overtired nerds working behind the scenes. They are the ones I want to hear from. This whole fiasco seems like it stems from the choice to auto-populate the “buzz contact” database with gmail contacts. Who made that choice? Why did they make it? Do they regret it?

Anyhow, I hope Gmail isn't trying to become a Facebook clone. I need it for email…

]]> By: Matt Brubeck http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/comment-page-1/#comment-16804 Matt Brubeck Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:43:10 +0000 http://imprompt.us/2010/google-buzz/#comment-16804 Their <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-buzz-start-up-experience-based-on.html" rel="nofollow">latest post</a> says, "We quickly realized that we didn't get everything quite right. We're very sorry for the concern we've caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback."<br><br>Not the <i>most</i> sincere apology (it sounds more like "sorry <i>you</i> were concerned" than "sorry for <i>our</i> mistakes"), but not shabby as these things go. Their latest post says, “We quickly realized that we didn't get everything quite right. We're very sorry for the concern we've caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback.”

Not the most sincere apology (it sounds more like “sorry you were concerned” than “sorry for our mistakes”), but not shabby as these things go.

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