Dammit Cary, you beat me to this. I strongly suggest everyone read the full Wired article (http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside- google-plus-social/).
I like the social "thing", but Facebook has always left me with a nagging feeling like I was overexposed. This Circles concept sounds perfect for me. I'm kinda excited about this. I'll be looking for a beta invite for sure. On Jun 28, 4:01 pm, Edward Crosby <[email protected]> wrote: > More info. > > http://lifehac.kr/mEQYcP > > ---------------------------------------- > Have a Better One, > Edward Crosbyhttp://about.me/edwardcrosby > > > > > > > > On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 1:27 PM, Cary Preston <[email protected]> wrote: > > Last night, you may have heard talk of a mysterious black bar appearing on > > the top of Google.com. Or you may have even seen it yourself. No, you > > weren’t hallucinating. It was a sign of something about to show itself. > > Something big. Google+ <http://plus.google.com/>. > > > What is Google+? It’s the super top-secret social project that Google has > > been working on for the past year. You know, the one being led by General > > Patton<http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/war-patten-rommel-vic-gundotra-googl...>(Vic > > Gundotra <http://www.crunchbase.com/person/vic-gundotra>) and General > > MacArthur (Bradley > > Horowitz<http://www.crunchbase.com/person/bradley-horowitz>). > > Yes, the one Google has tried to downplay as much as humanly possible — even > > as we got leak <http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/02/google-plus-one-brin/>after > > leak <http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/07/google-plus-one-pic/> after > > leak<http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/17/google-plus-one-video/>of what they > > were > > working <http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/01/google-social-emerald-sea/> on. > > Yes, the one they weren’t going to make a big deal > > about<http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/13/google-social-launch-event/> with > > pomp and circumstance. It’s real. And it’s here. > > > Sort of. > > > You see, the truth is that Google really is trying not to make a huge deal > > out of Google+. That’s not because they don’t have high hopes for it. Or > > because they don’t think it’s any good. Instead, it’s because what they’re > > comfortable showing off right now is just step one of a much bigger picture. > > When I sat down with Gundotra and Horowitz last week, they made this point > > very clear. In their minds, Google+ is more than a social product, or even a > > social strategy, it’s an extension of Google itself. Hence, Google+. > > > How’s that for downplaying it? > > > “We believe online sharing is broken. And even awkward,” Gundotra says. “We > > think connecting with other people is a basic human need. We do it all the > > time in real life, but our online tools are rigid. They force us into > > buckets — or into being completely public,” he continues. “Real life sharing > > is nuanced and rich. It has been hard to get that into software,” is the > > last thing he says before diving into a demo of Google+. > > > What he proceeds to show me is a product that in many ways is so well > > designed that it doesn’t really even look like a Google product. When I tell > > Gundotra and Horowitz this, they laugh. “Thank you,” Gundotra says very > > enthusiastically. Clearly, they’ve put a lot of work into both the UI and UX > > of Google+. > > > The first thing Gundotra shows me about Google+, and the first thing you’re > > likely to interact with, is something called “Circles”. You may recall that > > talk > > of this > > feature<http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_launch_major_new_socia...>leaked > > out a few months ago — though it wasn’t exactly right. In fact, our > > story from months prior about a feature of Google +1 (the name of the > > network at the time which ended up being the name of the button — more on > > that in a bit) called “Loops” may have been a bit > > closer<http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/04/google-plus-one-iphone-facebook-loop/>. > > That is, Circles isn’t actually a stand-alone product, it’s a feature of > > Google+ — an important one. “It’s something core to our product,” Gundotra > > says. > > > It’s through Circles that users select and organize contacts into groups > > for optimal sharing. I know, I know — not more group management. But the > > truth is that Google has made the process as pleasant as possible. You > > simply select people from a list of recommended contacts (populated from > > your Gmail and/or Google Contacts) and drag them into Circles you designate. > > The UI for all of this is simple and intuitive — it’s so good, that you > > might even say it’s kind of fun. It beats the pants off of the method for > > creating a group within Facebook. > > > Gundotra realizes that many social services have tried and failed to get > > users to create groups. But he believes they’ll succeed with Circles because > > he says they’re using software in the correct way to mimic the real world. > > More importantly, “you’re rewarded for doing this,” he says. How so? A big > > feature of Google+ is the toolbar that exists across the top of all Google > > sites (yes, the aforementioned black one). Once your Circles are set, > > sharing with any of them from any Google site is simple thanks to this > > toolbar. > > > Speaking of this black toolbar, which was codenamed the “Sandbar” as Google > > was working on it, Horowitz explains that it arose from the fact that > > sharing models on different sites are all different. The toolbar is an > > attempt to unify them. This toolbar will exist across all Google properties > > (though it may take some time to fully roll out). And down the road, you can > > imagine browser extensions, mobile versions, etc. But again, we’re on step > > one here. > > > Next, Gundotra showed off a feature called “Sparks”. He was quick to note > > that even though it’s a search box, this is not some sort of new search > > engine. Instead, he calls is a “sharing engine”. “Great content leads to > > great conversations,” he says. With Sparks, you enter an interest you have > > and Google goes out and finds elements on the web that they think you’ll > > care about. These can be links to blog posts, videos, books — anything that > > Google searches for. If you find something you like, you can click on an > > item to add it to your interest list (where it will stay for you to quickly > > refer to anytime you want). Or you can see what others are liking and > > talking about globally in the “Featured interests” area. > > > “Our goal here is to connect people. And everyone has a camera in their > > pocket,” Gundotra says as he shows me “Instant Upload”. This feature of > > Google+ relies on the use of a mobile device (either an Android phone or > > iPhone) to take photos or shoot video. From a new app, you’ll do either of > > these things and the content will automatically be uploaded to Google+ in > > the background and shared with whichever Circle you set. > > > Another feature of Google+ is called “Huddle”. It’s essentially a group > > messaging app that works across Android, iPhone, and SMS to allow you to > > communicate with the people in certain Circles. When I asked why they > > wouldn’t just use Disco, the group messaging app that the Slide team within > > Google built <http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/25/disco-app/>, Horowitz would > > only smile and pretend that he didn’t know what I was talking about. > > > Finally, there’s a feature called “Hangouts”. “Everyone has high-speed > > networks these days, but how many use group video chat?,” Gundotra asks. > > “Not a lot.” He notes that while there are technical challenges, and some > > cost money, the biggest problem is that it’s socially awkward to video chat > > with someone. The Google+ team set out to fix this by thinking about > > neighbors sitting out on porches. If your neighbor is sitting there, you > > know that they’ll likely be interested in striking up a conversation. In > > fact, it would be rude for you to walk by and not say anything. > > > With that in mind, Google+ Hangout attempts to solve the social problem of > > video chat by making it easy for you to let others know that you’re > > interested in chatting. And if you’re already chatting with a Circle, > > everyone else in that Circle will get an alert to come hang out. This works > > for up to 10 people. And seeing it in action is a bit magical. Gundotra > > starts a Hangout with some co-workers and as they join, conversations start > > between multiple people. But the Google+ system is smart enough to focus on > > who is controlling the conversation in any given minute. This makes the > > conversation easy to watch. It was almost as if an editor is working behind > > the scenes, cutting between people. > > > Even cooler is that you can share a piece of content, like a YouTube clip, > > and everyone in the Hangout can watch it together while talking about it. It > > sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s really pretty great. > > > After the rundown of all of these features, Google+ may sound a bit > > convoluted. But the key to the project is the attempt to unify everything. > > This is done via the toolbar (which features a drop-down showing you all of > > your relevant Google+ activity), but also on the mobile apps (again, Android > > and iPhone), and, of course, on the web. The Google+ site is the main stream > > on which you’ll find everything. From here, you can easily switch between > > all of your Circles, share content with any of them, start a Hangout, look > > up Sparks, etc. > > > All of the information flowing through the system does so in real time. As > > something is shared with you, it appears at the top of your stream. It’s a > > bit like FriendFeed, in this regard (which I love). > > > You’ll also find a link to your Google+ Profile, which will replace your > > old Google Profile if you have Google+ enabled. On this profile you’ll find > > not only a stream of everything you’ve shared across Google+, but also your > > +1 content. That’s likely important. While there has been plenty of > > speculation (by myself and > > others<http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/10/see-you-in-another-life-brother/>) > > that the +1 Button is already a dud, the larger picture is still a bit > > hidden. While Gundotra and Horowitz declined to specifically talk about it > > too much, you’ll see a +1 button on all Google+ content — the +1 Button > > clearly ties deeply into all of this. It is going to be their Facebook > > “Like” button > > ... > > read more » -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Unique Geek" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/theuniquegeek?hl=en.
