

Did Google Miss the Next Big Thing by Chasing Social Media? - abraham
http://www.pmorganbrown.com/2010/11/15/google-missed-opportunity-chasing-facebook/

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robotron
"Why would I go to GMail, then to docs, then to my phone, then to Chat when I
can have it all in one place?"

Maybe I'm missing something but for me those are all in one place already?
Gmail, docs, tasks, Google voice, Gchat, Buzz, Reader are all integrated in
different fashions and can all be accessed from Gmail.

~~~
morganb
Thanks for pointing this out in my post. What I was trying to suggest is that
if I'm already spending 5.5 hours per month on Facebook looking at photos,
commenting, liking things, etc. Why, once the functionality was available
within the interface and on my mobile device, would I jump out of my default
environment to use a series of other tools that don't integrate at all w/my
preferred online service.

I was a bit rushed in the composition of this post as I wrote it on the train;
but you are correct. Technically those things are in one place, just not the
place a large majority of Internet users are choosing to spend their time
online.

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zbruhnke
ummm google did do this first ... it was called buzz and if you recall, it
failed, quite miserably I might add.

That said, yes this may change SOME people's way of life for messaging, but it
is not the game changer I was expecting it to be, and to be honest is much
less remarkable than I am sure MOST were thinking

~~~
morganb
That was my point. Google had the opportunity, but in their race to get into
the social game blew it with Buzz, Wave, Friend Connect, (the list goes on...)
Google wanted social, they didn't think about what the average user might want
or use. And now, with all their functionality are still behind.

And I agree with you. The idea of a unified inbox is not revolutionary. You
didn't see people jumping up and down with their laptops over their heads like
you did at the Wave press conference, and I think that is what will make it
more successful.

It may not be revolutionary to you and me; but trust me, my mom's head is
going to explode when she gets a text from me in her inbox, can respond via
email and then touch a picture of me on her phone to call me from the same
thread.

