I was tempted to defend Google as a show of techie solidarity… then I figured, naah, you’re right. :-)
On Jan 21, 2014, at 9:57 AM, [email protected] wrote: > The Tech Block > Why does Google keep making products for nobody? > > > > Earlier this week, Google made headlines with its contact lenses aimed at > helping diabetics monitor their glucose levels. The lens, which has a shrunk > down chip and sensor as well as an antenna thinner than a human hair, has > techies raving about how innovative Google is. > > And that’s cool. I applaud Google trying to help people who have diabetes, a > disease that continues to effect millions around the world. > > Om Malik, who has diabetes, wrote a piece on his thoughts. This part stuck > out the most: > > > I cannot get over what seems to me a tone-deaf approach by Google’s > scientists. It also highlights Google’s fundamental challenge: it fails to > think about people as people, instead it treats them as an academic or an > engineering problem. Instead of trying to understand the needs of actual > people, they emerge with an elegant technological solution. > What Om effectively says in this piece is that while Google is thinking > ahead, they aren’t thinking of everyday people. > > And I agree. They’re creating a product that has the likelihood of being mass > produced as a flying car. The truth is, with all the hurdles, let alone > knowing how well it actually works, we have no idea if this will ever see the > light of day. > > > This, to me, is the other side of Google that gets tons of attention for > things that make very little practical sense, at least for now. > > Just look at Chromebook Pixel for example. How many people are really going > to spend $1300 on a high-resolution Chromebook? Are techies going to? No so > much. Are everyday consumers going to? Hell no. Why even build it? To prove > that they can build a high-resolution laptop for $1300? At this point, any > hardware manufacturer can do that. Just go to your local Best Buy. > > Or what about Google Glass? If Glass dropped by half, or even a quarter of > its current price, would consumers buy it? I’d wager that most wouldn’t > because no price drop would change the awkwardness of wearing one in public. > > But at least they’re trying, right? Absolutely. I’m glad they are. But it > would be awesome if the brilliant minds at Google worked on something > everyone reading this would actually want to buy. Not something we probably > won’t see for years, maybe even decades. > > That’s really what I’d like to see from one of the worlds most innovative > companies. Show me a product that I can get excited about and then get in > line to buy. Not something that promises incredible achievements, with no > proof, and no timetable. > > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
