EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/JUb2C.png)
I consider myself reasonably good with technology in general. Enough that I started a small business in atlanta doing in-home computer help - mostly cleaning small viruses off, but also adding hardware, setting up networks, and giving lessons on how to use the computer (mostly to seniors).
But I don't consider myself a "techie". I don't have a smart phone. I don't own a digital camera. My most advanced console is a Nintendo 64 (my 360 was struck by lightning a year and a half ago - different story). I'm using the same mouse I have for 4 years - a Logitech MX310 (I had to look on the bottom to see what it was). The one thing I've splurged on is a $65 2.1 sound system, and a $200 pair of headphones because I really like music. I built my dad's computer he uses for realtime heavy stock trading (takes a lot more power than I thought before I looked at the programs he was trying to run on a stock Dell), my laptop is a stock Toshiba Qosmio with an i5.
You see, while I grok technology, I don't really care about it that much. I just use what gets me by, and I'm ruled by inertia. The same goes for social networking - I've had the same email address for 12 years (until the last 6 months, getting to that later), I never had a myspace, I rarely used AIM, MSN, or ICQ, I didn't discover IRC until a year ago. I got a Facebook four years ago, and I've used that ever since. I use Skype as my primary means of contact. My search engine is Bing by default because one day I decided to use it over Google because they were the two best and I didn't give a shit.
A little while ago, I got one of the first invites to Google+ from dimfish. Predictably, I didn't really care, but dimfish is a really good friend of mine so I figured I'd take a look at it. It was nice, but inertia told me I'd be staying on Facebook for my limited social networking needs. So I sent 5 invites (each invitee gets 15 more invites to send out), and just kind of left without poking around too much for a couple weeks.
Fast forward to the last few days, my roommate just threw a party using G+ and 20 people spontaneously appeared at my house. I went back to G+ and now a lot of my friends are using it. Everything seemed so easy and simple, the layout made sense, the "+1 " feature works pretty well, and it ties in to my email (again easing simplicity). Still though, I have a Facebook, and it'd be a pain to move everything over.
And then I logged into Facebook the other day, and there is a strange bar on the right side. Some of you may have seen it. The one that has a list of 24 random friends, organized alphabetically, with markers next to who is online and who isn't.
Look, its not that I particularly use FB chat very often. But lets look at how FB Chat has evolved:
High Point:
- Button in bottom left, clicking it brings up friends list who are logged on
- List is organized by status and then alphabetically
- You can scroll through the list
- Clicking the bottom button again minimizes the list
- You change your status at the top
- Clicking a friend's name opens a chat window with that friend
- In the chat window, clicking either their name at the top or their profile picture (once it appears after they've said something) takes you to their page
- Clicking the bottom of the chat window minimizes it
Pre-sidebar
- Button in bottom left, clicking it brings up friends list who are logged on
- List is organized by status and then alphabetically
- You can scroll through the list
- Clicking the
bottom button againtop button minimizes the list - You change your status at the top
- Clicking a friend's name opens a chat window with that friend
- In the chat window, clicking
either their name at the top ortheir profile picture (once it appears after they've said something) takes you to their page - Clicking the
bottomtop of the chat window minimizes it
"Improvements": I now have to move my mouse a lot more to minimize things, and they have to say something before I can see their profile without searching for it
Post-sidebar
Button in bottom left, clicking it brings up friends list who are logged onA list of 24 random friends appears on the side of your screen- List is organized
by status and thenalphabetically You can scroll through the list- Clicking the bottom button
again minimizes the list[blue]lets you search for a specific friend. A tiny button in the corner allows you to minimize the list after 2 clicks instead of 1 You change your status at the topClicking the tiny button mentioned above lets you set your status- Clicking a friend's name opens a chat window with that friend
- In the chat window, clicking
either their name at the top ortheir profile picture (once it appears after they've said something) takes you to their page - Clicking the
bottomtop of the chat window minimizes it
"Improvements": I get to see random people's names, and can't see easily who is online, and have an ugly bar in the right side that is even more difficult to remove than before.
Ok, seriously, what the fuck. I don't get how someone could possibly find this to be "progress".
This is the event that triggered me to switch to Google for a lot of things. I'm now on G+ primarily, and check FB only to see what my non-G+ yet friends are up to. I still don't care which search engine I use, so I use Google search because my G+ bar is right up above it. Speaking of the G+ bar, most of you probably don't know about it. Basically, on any Google site (Google, gmail, g+, gdocs etc.) there is a small bar on the top, with links to all the other Google services. It also alerts you, while using any of these services, if you have a G+ notification, and lets you type status updates.
Google has put together one hell of a package of services. For the longest time, I thought their motto, "Don't be Evil", was just a joke, that they were the same corporation as all the others - just intent on maximizing profit. But I have to say, when they complete their takeover of the internet (and they will), I won't mind the monopoly.
