Thursday, August 17, 2006

The new Microsoft

Hi there!

For some time now it is obvious the Microsoft is losing grip over the market. Thinking about it many people aske one big question:
"Who will control the market now?
Who will be the new Microsoft?"
Well, my personal opinion is quite decided. We know them for some time now and I've been able to watch them grow. For me it is quite obvious. Google. Yes, the good old Google, once a hackers' tool and a symbol of rebellion, now is the new monopolist to be.
Why? Well, just look at their products! Google is not just a search engine anymore. They produce all kinds of software, all of which are requiring a google account to get the maximum functionality. Picasa and Picasaweb are the most obviuos example - a great service, nice gallery but if you want an easy way to download a whole collection of pictures you need Picasa. Why? Isn't it possible to just download everything in a single .zip archive? Of course it is possible, it's even quite easy! But it's not quite convenient for Google. Does this politics remind you of someone?

Actually I quite like the gadgets Google make - the search engine, the picture viewer, the mail notifier... And that is just one more reason to be pissed off with them for their politics! I like the company and I don't want to have to run away from them because they are forcing me use their products! I want to use their products because they are good, not because I HAVE to!
The reason I'm so very much pissed off right now is their latest acquisition and the way they are forcing themselves in it. I mean my blogging service provider, Blogger.com. Yes, it seems Google bought them recently and that is fine by me! But they are now introducing some integration between Blogger and their Google accounts and thei are introducing it in quite a frustrating way! What I like about Blogger is that I sit on a computer, log in, post a blog, log out and go do something else. I don't have to deal with a whole pile of bullshit before I can post. It's no longer true, unless you use "the new and improved" Google-spiced beta version of Blogger. Well, I didn't want a new version. I'm quite familiar with the old one, it works for quite well and the new version is still beta. I just didn't want to switch! But it doesn't actually matter what I want - two or three times I struggled through tour screens and such till I find out how to log in to my good old blog until tonight while trying to log in I found out that I've followed the wrong link or something and I'm currently being switched to the new version! I was outta my mind with frustration! And the best part is that, of course, switching back is not an option - "It's technically impossible" or something... Damn it, I hate being forced to do things! If the new service was better and I saw it I would have been happy to switch! But now I'm not happy at all and I'm even considering moving my blog to its own hosting somewhere with a nice Wordpress running it!

So, enjoy the new WEB, shone over by the allmighty Google!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

No phonetic, huh?
:)
And about google...
Damn Google is worse than Microsoft.
The sux nowwere :(
I prefer yahoo.
But they are walking on the sme way.
P.P. Start using wordpress... better, faster and... no google ;)

ro-tex said...

I've got phonetic. I just wanted everyboy to be able tyo read this post.

You're mistaken - Google are good, especially as a search engine. Picasa is also a good product despite the features that are missing and the strange behaviour sometimes.
The bad thing about Google is their policy of binding all their products and services to their mail sevice. Just a question: what if they gather about 100 million users (very likely, actually) and THEN they decide to make GMail a paid service? Yes, probably more than 75% of the users will go away... BUT if all the users suddenly realize that in this way they're losing both their mail, picure viewing program, their blog and God knows what else? Hmm... It suddenly looks like more than 75% of the users will STAY and will pay! I guess everybody can do the maths...
That's what is bad in Google, the rest I like.

Yet it is too soon to tell. Maybe Google won't go that way and will decide to make money by other means. Maybe... But I don't think this is the most likely thing to happen. Yet we can hope. :)

A little addtion:
"This account has been moved to the new Blogger. You must log in with your Google Account email address and password from now on."

Yep... The future is bright, isn't it?