One interesting point here. This seems to use the UPS API so I assume they're using info from tracking information of people who already received one. But the question is Did Google ship all the CR-48s via UPS?
Where I work we send out gift baskets to select VIP donors to goose donations over the holidays and even we pay a service that determines the cheapest shipping carrier for the donors location. I'd imagine a company as big as Google would use a similar service (especially since they obviously didn't order in bulk as some are ground and some are overnight)
Weird. There were 10 packages delivered to my zip code, and one of them actually lists my name on the delivery -- but it says it was delivered Friday, and signed for by me. But I wasn't even at home on Friday. So where did it go?
It would be super-sad if my Cr-48 has been delivered without signature to my door and then stolen already :-(
My name (lastname only) was in the "signed by" field of the shipping info -- all the stranger, since I didn't sign for it. I suppose it's possible the package was delivered to somebody else with my last name in the same zip code, but my last name isn't very common, so I think that's really unlikely.
You could be right but if that's the case I think it's a mistake. I can get why Google would want a certain type of person to test these things but the problem with an application process is it makes the whole thing a question of worthiness.
"Are you deemed worthy of a CR-48 by Google?" (This is not an official Google quote I'm just laying out the sentiment)
And the problem with that is...some people won't be. So when you look at using the package arrivals for hype you have to realize you're rubbing it in the nose of everyone who didn't get one (and the ones who did are already happy with you so they're already hyped up).
I suppose there's a third group that wasn't interested enough to even apply but I can't imagine those people being moved by a bunch of "my CR-48 arrived" stories.
I think you're reading way to much into it. It's free. Nothing more, nothing less. People get excited at the thought of free stuff, especially something like a laptop. If someone is so emotionally unstable that they feel socially rejected because a complete stranger got picked for a beta test instead of them, they have bigger issues going on -- it's not because an application process exists.
It's not emotionally unstable to be upset with rejection it's the normal reaction (and to be honest there's probably no psychological phenomenon that's been documented more than that). Beyond that I think suggesting it's just "free stuff" shows a complete misunderstanding of what's going on here.
Google is trying to start a movement with the Chrome OS. They're trying to win people over to the thinking that you don't need a desktop. So the dynamics here are more like a political party than a giveaway. As such people are bound to get emotionally invested and their feelings of rejection are bound to be amplified if they are rejected from that movement (imagine a political party that only accepted people's support after an application process)
As I said it's a necessary step because this is a testing process and Google does need a certain profile of person to test. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to sting people if they don't get in.
I think applying that degree of psychological analysis to such a trivial situation is a bit insulting to people who actually suffer from genuine rejection. What you're saying could be said about any closed beta that Google has done for any of their products. I have yet to meet or hear about anybody emotionally scarred from those experiences. Have you?
It's not an issue of being emotionally scarred it's an issue of losing one's passion.
Again it's not the same as other closed Betas. It's a movement towards an entirely different computing model. One that not everyone accepts is valid (in fact I'd argue most don't think a completely browser based computing experience is valid at this point). So what Google needs more than anything is people who are passionate about that idea and who will strongly advocate for it.
So when people are rejected from the program I don't believe they'll cry but I do believe they'll feel less passionate about the idea as a whole.
I truly believe that most people are intelligent enough to understand that Google cannot gift an unlimited number of laptops and that randomness is the determining factor in who gets one and who doesn’t. 60,000 laptops mean that 1 in 5000 Americans will get one. Is that not enough? I also don’t think that there is any way you can send out a few thousand free laptops without causing hype …
I filled out the short application just a few minutes after they had the announcement and received one two days later. I received no conformation but I did receive three phone calls by a member of the Google ChromeOS team. I missed UPS trying to deliver it to me so Google tried to get ahold of me to make sure I get it.
They are definitely trying to get these out and make sure you get it. I have no connections with Google and I am not a member of the press so to receive this level of service was amazing.
Is it sad that my heart jumped a little when I saw that one had shipped to my where I live. Unfortunately it has already been delivered and I definitely didn't receive one!
There's one going to my zipcode that just shipped. I've had a slight anticipation everytime I get home in the past few days, wondering if there is going to be a package there, and that just made it worse, but here's to hoping!
I received my Cr-48 Yesterday morning, and this site shows that one Cr-48 was overnighted to my area, but two more were shipped UPS Ground. I wonder why mine was overnighted?
It's querying the UPS tracking API for reference numbers. These are assigned by the shipper (can be a description, customer name, or in this case sequential SKU blocks of 2000) so knowing the pattern would get you all of them.
I played around with the reference numbers, and it seems like Google sent out 3 batches:
AAC1XXXXXX (up to AAC1001982)
AAC2XXXXXX (up to AAC2002127)
AAC3XXXXXX (up to AAC3002115)
All of these turn up 6 pound packages sent within the past few days, with the earliest being the 9th.
UPS' API delivers this kind of information and I assume they got the address from someone who already received one and then queried for packages from that address.
The question is pretty legit; the long application asks a number of questions like how much you use desktop apps (Anything from MATLAB to Citrix), and also about your preference in Google products vs anything else (gmail, calendar, docs, etc).
Is there any indication to whether they are picking people with good fits (e.g. those who basically use all the Google products already) or are they just selecting people randomly, using the data provided just for stats and context to the person's inputs?
Where I work we send out gift baskets to select VIP donors to goose donations over the holidays and even we pay a service that determines the cheapest shipping carrier for the donors location. I'd imagine a company as big as Google would use a similar service (especially since they obviously didn't order in bulk as some are ground and some are overnight)