Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
Today Steve Johnson decided to gripe about Google's request for Gmail stories about users' experiences with the service. We actually have to admit we were with Johnson for most of his piece, since the idea of people having Gmail stories worth sharing seemed pretty dubious. What, are you going to go over how you chatted with you future mate through Gtalk? Or how you couldn't remember where that really rad party was happening so you used Gmail's search function to suss out the original email invite amongst the 15,456 other messages in your archived folder?
So, like we said, we were with Steve. We were almost willing to forgive him for his unbelievably tactless observations regarding Jennifer Love Hewitt's ass. And then he dropped this line regarding Google's exhortation for user tales on us.
Google is kidding itself. People don't organize around a service.
Um, yeah, no one organizes around a service. That's why MySpace is such an utter and complete failure. And Digg. And Flickr. And so on.
Could someone please tell us why this guy is collecting a paycheck as an Internet critic when he continues to display such stunning cluelessness about the basic nature of the medium he's covering?
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Up with Gmail! Down with Johnson!
Chicagoist should host a contest to see who can come up with the most creative answer to that very question.
Could someone please tell us why this guy is collecting a paycheck as an Internet critic when he continues to display such stunning cluelessness about the basic nature of the medium he's covering?
Because his bosses are even more clueless.
Question for Tankboy...what's worse: writing a technology column whose point is highlighting what a techno-dumbass you are, or devoting time, energy and space to criticizing full-time, fully-paid writers who may pander to the unintelligent masses, but of whom you are clearly jealous?
While I'm not going to speak for Tankboy, I'm going to assume that you'd have to be a clueless moron not to want a gig such as the one Johnson has, especially if you love - and can speak authoritatively on - All-Things-Internet as TB so clearly does.
So I'm not sure your put-down objective was met, but, you know, good try!
Just as spook and ferdy about organizing around a system. (I'm assuming chicagoist counts as a system.)
Sounds like someone is bitter that they weren't included in the Gmail invite only beta.
Personally, I find it really creepy how gmail scans your email for keywords and then focuses their advertising around whatever you're emailing about. I kind of think they're like that Scorpio character that Homer Simpson loved working for- so nice, nobody notices they're evil until we're living in the United States of Google and eating Google burgers at McGoogle's.
(this is all tongue-in-cheek, btw. well, except for the part where they scan your email, because they totally do that.)
gmail takes care of the spam problem.
Companies are always asking for testimonials and feedback from real people about their products. Local internet superstars, 37signals, asked some of its users to submit videos about how Basecamp is used to make their lives better. Why shouldn't Google?
When a large portion of the Interweb is using your product it's often a good idea to get some user feedback. Using a contest as a means of enticing people is hardly new. Hell, the Tribune created national buzz with it's unique contest in 1922. Furthermore, since when has willingly entering a contest ever been the same as homework? ("Gmail is assigning its users homework, which sort of detracts from the whole simplicity thing." huh?)
Clearly Mr. Johnson doesn't understand how great products work. A great product is truly successful when you stop thinking about how wonderfully it works. It's a true necessity when you switch to a competitors product for just one day and by the end of the day you are ready to pull your hair out in frustration and all you want to do is go back to what you knew already worked.
My bed is just such a product. Whenever I have to sleep anywhere else I wake up miserable and achy. I just want my bed back. GMail integrates with Google Docs, Calendar and GTalk now with AIM support and all Mr. Johnson can say is "fine"? What about the crazy amount of spam that GMail users never see?
SJ, you failed to even mention any of those attributes probably because you don't even think about them. You take for granted that they are there while you worry so much about the ads. Yahoo! Hotmail, etc. all have ads and theirs aren't just text ads.
I guess in the end Mr. Johnson couldn't find anything else on Digg or Slashdot to talk about before his deadline. And this is what he came up with. Which makes the Tribune's tech reporters looking almost "fine" - end of story.
@Ed Knittel: Well played, Sir.
"Jennifer Love Hewitt is protesting unhealthy women's body expectations after allegedly unflattering bikini photos of her were published on the Web. We're with you in principle, Jennifer, but isn't insisting on your blog that you are still a 'size 2' part of the same problem?"
What's incorrect about this? Sounds about right to me. "We have serious problems with our expectations of women's bodies. Take me for example...I'm still a size 2! Really! Seriously, size 2."
All he's saying is that he can't see people getting excited enough about everyday Internet services to make a video about them, not that they are "failures." (He's probably wrong.)
You kind of misrepresent his comment by taking it out of context.
Anyway, in terms of a "Steve Watch" you'll have to do better than this to convince me he is clueless.
I don't read the column that often, but my impression is that it's not really a technical column...so whether or not Johnston is a computer genius, he's still putting together some interesting facts, tidbits, news, etc. for your everyday reader.
I'm proud to say that I don't spend near enough time on the Internet to know most of the stuff he's talking about.
Anyway, if you hate his column so much, why don't you do your own, better version on this site?
All he's saying is that he can't see people getting excited enough about everyday Internet services to make a video about them, not that they are "failures." (He's probably wrong.)
You kind of misrepresent his comment by taking it out of context.
Anyway, in terms of a "Steve Watch" you'll have to do better than this to convince me he is clueless.
I don't read the column that often, but my impression is that it's not really a technical column...so whether or not Johnston is a computer genius, he's still putting together some interesting facts, tidbits, news, etc. for your everyday reader.
I'm proud to say that I don't spend near enough time on the Internet to know most of the stuff he's talking about.
Anyway, if you hate his column so much, why don't you do your own, better version on this site?