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• 

  Google+’s Minus

  Tweet

  With a change to the new user registration flow, Google+ now has a more prominent place in the Googleverse. Now, instead of creating a Google+ account after you’re a registered Google account user, profile creation happens during the regular Google account setup process. It’s kind of a big deal.

  You have to figure that the likelihood of a user poking around G+ rises significantly when they’re forced into signing up, rather than being given the option after the fact. The number of G+ accounts will go up as Google registers more new users. Add this to the fact that Google+ now has a very visible role in Google’s search results, and you get the sense that Google is going to do everything they can to make G+ succeed.

  The problem is, they don’t seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on creating active users. They’re not doing their best to make the Google+ service addictive. One thing they should be putting a lot of focus on is mobile.

  With the launch of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, certain Google+ features, such as Circles and Hangouts, are being advertised as phone features (finally, an Android hardware partner is learning how to sell features instead of specs!).

  Brilliant.

  For its own version of the Android OS, Google is in a unique position to include as much or as little of Google+ as it wants. Google needs to bake G+ into every nook and cranny of Android, and have Android serve as G+’s Trojan Horse. If mobile users get hooked on some of the features, Google might be able to coax them over to the desktop version of G+, where those features already exist. But mobile is where I think Google can really plant the seed of addiction.

  The Galaxy Nexus commercial was good, and it was a step in the right direction. But Google and the manufacturers using Android need to continue down that path of thinking and keep pushing Google+’s best parts as Android phone features. Get users doing Hangouts, get them sorting contacts into Circles, get them talking over Messenger, and then do a better job at putting those features in front of them on the bigger screen.

  

  6 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Google+’s Minus

  Tweet

  With a change to the new user registration flow, Google+ now has a more prominent place in the Googleverse. Now, instead of creating a Google+ account after you’re a registered Google account user, profile creation happens during the regular Google account setup process. It’s kind of a big deal.

  You have to figure that the likelihood of a user poking around G+ rises significantly when they’re forced into signing up, rather than being given the option after the fact. The number of G+ accounts will go up as Google registers more new users. Add this to the fact that Google+ now has a very visible role in Google’s search results, and you get the sense that Google is going to do everything they can to make G+ succeed.

  The problem is, they don’t seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on creating active users. They’re not doing their best to make the Google+ service addictive. One thing they should be putting a lot of focus on is mobile.

  With the launch of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone, certain Google+ features, such as Circles and Hangouts, are being advertised as phone features (finally, an Android hardware partner is learning how to sell features instead of specs!).

  Brilliant.

  For its own version of the Android OS, Google is in a unique position to include as much or as little of Google+ as it wants. Google needs to bake G+ into every nook and cranny of Android, and have Android serve as G+’s Trojan Horse. If mobile users get hooked on some of the features, Google might be able to coax them over to the desktop version of G+, where those features already exist. But mobile is where I think Google can really plant the seed of addiction.

  The Galaxy Nexus commercial was good, and it was a step in the right direction. But Google and the manufacturers using Android need to continue down that path of thinking and keep pushing Google+’s best parts as Android phone features. Get users doing Hangouts, get them sorting contacts into Circles, get them talking over Messenger, and then do a better job at putting those features in front of them on the bigger screen.

  

  6 days on
  @shawn
• 

  iSupportHarrisburg, Part 2

  Tweet

  I started the last post about iSupportHarrisburg by saying “This is a trip.”

  This is, too.

  I received an email earlier tonight from Rob Lyons, the man behind the curtain at iSupportHarrisburg.com. Five minutes after getting that email, I got two phone calls from two numbers I didn’t recognize: one from Florida and another from PA. Mere minutes after those calls, someone started a GChat session with me through the contact page on my 20five site.

  As it turns out, all of these pings were from Rob. He wasn’t happy about this post. And I’m thrilled that he chose to ping me via chat, because now you get to read it.

  —

  Guest: Shawn are you there ?

  me: Hi this is Shawn

  Guest: Mr Farner, I am inquiring about the info that you had posted about IsupportHarrisburg.com. Tho I appreciate your opinion about the site and the humor it can do much damage to what we are working really hard to create. In November your right there wasn’t much of anything accomplished but since then things are looking up. Can I ask that you please remove the post. We have partnered with Pa food bank and the Luekemia & Lymphoma society.Over 60 local businesses are apart of this and we do see a big future. Honestly I do agree with some of what you said but its a begining that is showing major promise.

  Guest: Also I am local , I took over this in Oct

  me: Honestly, taking down the post isn’t an option. It goes against everything I stand for, really. As far as your partnerships, how are you pulling that off? If you’re striking deals with companies and don’t have the traffic to make it worth their while, you’re being dishonest.

  Guest: I or nobody affiliated with Isupportharrisburg.com has been dishonest. We tell every business thus far that we are new,there is very little traffic at this point but as we grow marketing strategies will be implemented.

  me: are you charging?

  Guest: Of course , how else would a small business grow ? Responsible business owners wouldn’t pay if they didn’t see a vision wouldn’t you agree ? If not what are you trying to say ?

  me: You aren’t giving them anything to pay for. I could walk down the street and you would be incredibly lucky if I found someone who knew about the site

  Guest: I can see you are good at what you do.If you have any suggestions I am open for ideas.

  me: You shouldn’t be charging local businesses anything until you have the traffic to justify the charge

  Guest: That is your opinion Mr Farner , not fact. Fact is that local business owners are paying a nominal fee for the hopes that this does grow.When it does they still pay the rate they do now because they helped in the growing process. I need to create revenue to hire people like you to put out positive blogs about what we are doing in the future along with marketing the site in other ways than the web.

  me: You dump your own money in, you take out a loan or you find investors. You don’t use your early customers to fund your company when you aren’t giving them something in return. I am willing to bet that they’re paying you with the impression that your site has traffic, not that “it might be successful someday”

  Guest: I did not say that we have no traffic. I have and still am puting my $$ into this.The money that they are paying is to grow the concept. I tried to get ahold of you to get the facts straight.I am local just like you.This is new in this area and we are growing. Have a good night.

  Guest has left.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  iSupportHarrisburg, Part 2

  Tweet

  I started the last post about iSupportHarrisburg by saying “This is a trip.”

  This is, too.

  I received an email earlier tonight from Rob Lyons, the man behind the curtain at iSupportHarrisburg.com. Five minutes after getting that email, I got two phone calls from two numbers I didn’t recognize: one from Florida and another from PA. Mere minutes after those calls, someone started a GChat session with me through the contact page on my 20five site.

  As it turns out, all of these pings were from Rob. He wasn’t happy about this post. And I’m thrilled that he chose to ping me via chat, because now you get to read it.

  —

  Guest: Shawn are you there ?

  me: Hi this is Shawn

  Guest: Mr Farner, I am inquiring about the info that you had posted about IsupportHarrisburg.com. Tho I appreciate your opinion about the site and the humor it can do much damage to what we are working really hard to create. In November your right there wasn’t much of anything accomplished but since then things are looking up. Can I ask that you please remove the post. We have partnered with Pa food bank and the Luekemia & Lymphoma society.Over 60 local businesses are apart of this and we do see a big future. Honestly I do agree with some of what you said but its a begining that is showing major promise.

  Guest: Also I am local , I took over this in Oct

  me: Honestly, taking down the post isn’t an option. It goes against everything I stand for, really. As far as your partnerships, how are you pulling that off? If you’re striking deals with companies and don’t have the traffic to make it worth their while, you’re being dishonest.

  Guest: I or nobody affiliated with Isupportharrisburg.com has been dishonest. We tell every business thus far that we are new,there is very little traffic at this point but as we grow marketing strategies will be implemented.

  me: are you charging?

  Guest: Of course , how else would a small business grow ? Responsible business owners wouldn’t pay if they didn’t see a vision wouldn’t you agree ? If not what are you trying to say ?

  me: You aren’t giving them anything to pay for. I could walk down the street and you would be incredibly lucky if I found someone who knew about the site

  Guest: I can see you are good at what you do.If you have any suggestions I am open for ideas.

  me: You shouldn’t be charging local businesses anything until you have the traffic to justify the charge

  Guest: That is your opinion Mr Farner , not fact. Fact is that local business owners are paying a nominal fee for the hopes that this does grow.When it does they still pay the rate they do now because they helped in the growing process. I need to create revenue to hire people like you to put out positive blogs about what we are doing in the future along with marketing the site in other ways than the web.

  me: You dump your own money in, you take out a loan or you find investors. You don’t use your early customers to fund your company when you aren’t giving them something in return. I am willing to bet that they’re paying you with the impression that your site has traffic, not that “it might be successful someday”

  Guest: I did not say that we have no traffic. I have and still am puting my $$ into this.The money that they are paying is to grow the concept. I tried to get ahold of you to get the facts straight.I am local just like you.This is new in this area and we are growing. Have a good night.

  Guest has left.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Crowdsourced, instantaneous news

  Tweet

  An eyebrow-raising tweet came through my stream today–one that I can certainly get on board with.

  AnneDGallaher: Consider using a hashtag in tweets when we see news happening–advice from @harrisburgsmc #HbgSMC

  First, a little back-story.

  I occasionally brainstorm new social products from time to time. Abuzz is one that actually made it out of my brain and turned into something real. Most don’t. The particular problem I wanted to tackle was news. More specifically, how to make it faster, more widely distributed and relevant to those in a certain area.

  About a week ago, I registered the @Hashburg name on Twitter and started toying around with some ideas. I set the account up so that a few hashtags (#news, #sports, #hbg and #hbgtweetup) would be caught in the filter and automatically retweeted from the account if the user in question was within 25km (around 15.5mi) of Harrisburg.

  With apologies to @roxburynews, @todaysthedayhbg and countless others using the #hbg hashtag, my little Frankenstein news experiment went a bit awry and retweeted each tweet about five or ten times. If you didn’t notice, thank God. I deleted most of the tweets and took the account private so that the tweets wouldn’t interfere in anyone else’s streams while I tweaked it. But I still see potential in the idea as a way to quickly spread important news. A few other hashtags come to mind: #traffic (for relaying information about accidents), #weather (conditions and temperature where you are), #amber (to spread word about an Amber Alert), and so on.

  It is by no means competition to the more established news outlets. The character length prevents that. But as a quick way to share newsworthy items, especially when coming from a non-news source, I think it’s the best way to spread a message.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Crowdsourced, instantaneous news

  Tweet

  An eyebrow-raising tweet came through my stream today–one that I can certainly get on board with.

  AnneDGallaher: Consider using a hashtag in tweets when we see news happening–advice from @harrisburgsmc #HbgSMC

  First, a little back-story.

  I occasionally brainstorm new social products from time to time. Abuzz is one that actually made it out of my brain and turned into something real. Most don’t. The particular problem I wanted to tackle was news. More specifically, how to make it faster, more widely distributed and relevant to those in a certain area.

  About a week ago, I registered the @Hashburg name on Twitter and started toying around with some ideas. I set the account up so that a few hashtags (#news, #sports, #hbg and #hbgtweetup) would be caught in the filter and automatically retweeted from the account if the user in question was within 25km (around 15.5mi) of Harrisburg.

  With apologies to @roxburynews, @todaysthedayhbg and countless others using the #hbg hashtag, my little Frankenstein news experiment went a bit awry and retweeted each tweet about five or ten times. If you didn’t notice, thank God. I deleted most of the tweets and took the account private so that the tweets wouldn’t interfere in anyone else’s streams while I tweaked it. But I still see potential in the idea as a way to quickly spread important news. A few other hashtags come to mind: #traffic (for relaying information about accidents), #weather (conditions and temperature where you are), #amber (to spread word about an Amber Alert), and so on.

  It is by no means competition to the more established news outlets. The character length prevents that. But as a quick way to share newsworthy items, especially when coming from a non-news source, I think it’s the best way to spread a message.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Where Google Goofed

  Tweet

  Google officially pulled back the curtain on Google+ today and opted for a slow, controlled roll-out instead of opening the floodgates.

  And therein lies the goof.

  Facebook is the behemoth in the social networking world right now, boasting over 500 million active users–all of whom have invested heavily in the service. All their friends are there as well as photos, videos, notes and other content. They play games there. They organize events there. They interact on Pages and in Groups with others who share their interests. Regardless of what pundits may want to believe, people aren’t going to just drop Facebook on a dime and flock to Google+.

  One reason is that they can’t, because of the whole slow roll-out. The other is that the masses just won’t be there to make the site sticky when they do arrive.

  Those who do have access to the service are lamenting the fact that they have access to Google+’s cool new features and no one to use them with. That curiosity will wane and those users will end up right back where they started–on Facebook, where everyone else is. In time, a new wave of Google+ users will be invited into the kingdom only to find their friends have abandoned it.

  This isn’t like Gmail, which went through the slow roll-out phase. Gmail had no social aspect. Users replaced their old email provider with Google’s new service and had no idea whether one person was using it or millions were using it. Google also had novelty on their side, and it hadn’t failed at email multiple times before like it has with social.

  If Google expects to have a chance at dethroning Facebook, they need to get Google+ ready for prime-time and get as many people using it as possible. ASAP.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Where Google Goofed

  Tweet

  Google officially pulled back the curtain on Google+ today and opted for a slow, controlled roll-out instead of opening the floodgates.

  And therein lies the goof.

  Facebook is the behemoth in the social networking world right now, boasting over 500 million active users–all of whom have invested heavily in the service. All their friends are there as well as photos, videos, notes and other content. They play games there. They organize events there. They interact on Pages and in Groups with others who share their interests. Regardless of what pundits may want to believe, people aren’t going to just drop Facebook on a dime and flock to Google+.

  One reason is that they can’t, because of the whole slow roll-out. The other is that the masses just won’t be there to make the site sticky when they do arrive.

  Those who do have access to the service are lamenting the fact that they have access to Google+’s cool new features and no one to use them with. That curiosity will wane and those users will end up right back where they started–on Facebook, where everyone else is. In time, a new wave of Google+ users will be invited into the kingdom only to find their friends have abandoned it.

  This isn’t like Gmail, which went through the slow roll-out phase. Gmail had no social aspect. Users replaced their old email provider with Google’s new service and had no idea whether one person was using it or millions were using it. Google also had novelty on their side, and it hadn’t failed at email multiple times before like it has with social.

  If Google expects to have a chance at dethroning Facebook, they need to get Google+ ready for prime-time and get as many people using it as possible. ASAP.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Google+ reality check

  Tweet

  Look, I like Google+, too, but the number of people experiencing plust (plus lust) is astounding.

  I still have a ton of Twitter tweets zipping down my real-time TweetDeck column and I still have Facebook friends sharing everything from their thoughts on the latest nerdy wizard movie to sonogram photos of their unborn fetuses. Yet, over in Oz+, every other social network has apparently been defeated and Google+ reigns supreme.

  Worse yet, there are already experts popping in to teach people how to use this not-even-one-month-old social network — a social network that is, if anything, at version 0.634 and will continue to have changes and improvements made to it before the doors are opened to the world at large. And if the past few weeks are an indicator, the changes will be rapid. Knowing that, does Google+ really need a paid webinar at this stage in the game?

  People are abandoning their Twitter/Facebook accounts for Google+. They’re also forwarding their URLs (the URLs that used to belong to their blogs) to their Google+ profiles. Tech and social media luminaries are astonished at the number of comments their posts are getting and say they’ve never seen anything like it before (that happens when you crash land on an island full of geeks). It’s a lot like the praise once heaped upon FriendFeed before the celebrinerds slowly crept away and re-joined the Facebook/Twitter parties.

  All I’m asking is that you try to keep an even keel. Amidst the cries of “Facebook killer” and “Twitter what?”, some people need to be reasonable. You can be excited about Google+ — I’m certainly excited about any area Google tries to innovate in — but realize that Facebook and Twitter aren’t going anywhere. The initial Google+ trial is the first battle in what looks to be a long war. Rather than take a side, I’m going to watch from afar and plot my next move.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Google+ reality check

  Tweet

  Look, I like Google+, too, but the number of people experiencing plust (plus lust) is astounding.

  I still have a ton of Twitter tweets zipping down my real-time TweetDeck column and I still have Facebook friends sharing everything from their thoughts on the latest nerdy wizard movie to sonogram photos of their unborn fetuses. Yet, over in Oz+, every other social network has apparently been defeated and Google+ reigns supreme.

  Worse yet, there are already experts popping in to teach people how to use this not-even-one-month-old social network — a social network that is, if anything, at version 0.634 and will continue to have changes and improvements made to it before the doors are opened to the world at large. And if the past few weeks are an indicator, the changes will be rapid. Knowing that, does Google+ really need a paid webinar at this stage in the game?

  People are abandoning their Twitter/Facebook accounts for Google+. They’re also forwarding their URLs (the URLs that used to belong to their blogs) to their Google+ profiles. Tech and social media luminaries are astonished at the number of comments their posts are getting and say they’ve never seen anything like it before (that happens when you crash land on an island full of geeks). It’s a lot like the praise once heaped upon FriendFeed before the celebrinerds slowly crept away and re-joined the Facebook/Twitter parties.

  All I’m asking is that you try to keep an even keel. Amidst the cries of “Facebook killer” and “Twitter what?”, some people need to be reasonable. You can be excited about Google+ — I’m certainly excited about any area Google tries to innovate in — but realize that Facebook and Twitter aren’t going anywhere. The initial Google+ trial is the first battle in what looks to be a long war. Rather than take a side, I’m going to watch from afar and plot my next move.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn
• 

  Five reasons to replace your iPad with an Android tablet

  Tweet

  I was a Mac at one point. I’ve also owned an iPhone, and I’ve owned both the original Wifi-only iPad, the original 3G-enabled iPad and a Wifi-only iPad 2. So to say Apple hasn’t won me over in the past is simply untrue.

  Unfortunately, I reached a point where the beauty of these devices (in both hardware and software) could not make up for how severely hampered they are.

  In no place is this more apparent than in the world of tablets. Here are five of the major differences I see — differences that can also be viewed as major selling points for Android tablets running Honeycomb.

  1. Flash.
     You knew this was going to be here. Flash is a major selling point for Android tablets. Granted, I’m not sure how many consumers know exactly what Flash does — they don’t know what Turntable.FM runs on, they just know that it works in their PC browser and not on their iPad. While iPad users are clamoring for app-based workarounds for Flash-based Web apps, Android tablet owners are busy rocking out.
     
  2. Widgets.
     Apple is fervently against having widgets on the iPad home screen and I’ll never understand why. On the iPhone home screen, sixteen app icons don’t look out of place. The iPad’s screen real estate could be put to better use, though. Google and Android’s app developers alike have done a great job implementing and taking advantage of widgets as a way to give you important information at a glance.
     
  3. App/operating system synergy.
     Apple keeps developers on a short leash when it comes to iOS. Remember: until last year’s release of iOS 4, Apple’s apps were the only ones allowed to run in the background. Android does a much better job at making apps feel like they’re part of the operating system, both in terms of multitasking and system-wide integration. This integration also allows apps to work with other apps — tapping the “share” button inside any app is a perfect example of this. Using the Pulse app, for example, I can share a story as a note through Google Reader, or as a tweet through Twitter… or through many other different apps.
     
     
  4.  The limitless possibilities of “open.”
     I teetered back and forth between the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and the Acer Iconia before finally dropping the $399 on the Iconia. Why? Its on-board USB port, which opens up a whole world of possibilities. Last night I played Tecmo Super Bowl using an NES emulator (yep, Android Market has those) and a USB gamepad. Yes, Honeycomb recognized a USB gamepad. I’ve also been able to connect a USB keyboard/mouse combo to the device and operate them successfully. But so much more could be done, and Google does not stand in the way. These tablets are wide open to be used as you see fit — open on the operating system side and open on the hardware side. Your tablet is truly your tablet.
     
  5. Speed of innovation & the Google home field factor.
     Google is one of the fastest-innovating companies on the planet, if not the fastest. Many will point to this as a major flaw in their approach to Android — after all, they’ve pushed out a lot of updates and fragmented Android’s user base across a number of different OS iterations. I’ve brought this up and complained about it in the past regarding Android phones, but the problem does not seem to be as prevalent on Android tablets (so far). The current Honeycomb tablet lineup features stock Honeycomb installations — no skins — so updates are coming much faster. Google has been ahead of the curve on many tablet features and, with Apple releasing major OS updates once a year, they’re only going to increase that distance.The Google home field factor is the big difference-maker and is the reason I’ve moved completely to Android, both on my phone and on my tablet. The implementations of Google apps on Android are phenomenal, specifically Gmail, Google Maps and Google Sky Map. The fact that Android is Google’s OS means you won’t have to wait for updates — if they’re ready, you’ll have them. No app store middleman.
     
     
     

  There is one area I’d love for Google to improve in, and I think the photos give you a pretty good idea of where I’m going with this.

  Screenshots.

  Apple makes this very easy, but I can’t take a decent screenshot on any Android device without root access.

  So, did I make some good points or am I just plain wrong? Let me know.

  

  8 days on
  @shawn