A Look At Google
Just a few thoughts about Google.
I just received an email introducing a new high definition media player running the GoogleTV software.
And it occurred to me almost immediately: Google is turning into Microsoft.
Does that mean in 20 years Google will be making bad software that costs way too much money and yet everyone will buy it anyway while Apple works very hard to give away their superior alternatives? Looks like it.
Google doesn’t make any of their own hardware. They are relying exclusively on other hardware and software developers to build the appliances that run their software. All of them, in fact – their phones, tv software, web browser.
In comparison, Apple develops all of their own hardware. The end result is that the overall product – the thing that the consumer actually uses – is much more functional because the hardware and software work seamlessly together. That’s the sticking point with technology. Software isn’t a sole solution. You need hardware, too.
I have to believe this is why the Droid phones have atrocious battery life, Chrome crashes all the time and (I suspect) Revue won’t be able to dual output digital and analog audio.
So Google – Are you going to start improving your company model by developing better products? Because as it stands now, your software is only so-so. You just have the luxury that Microsoft has – you’ve duped people into thinking that it’s the best solution.
HP Pavilion dv6 Trackpad
I recently had to set up a new HP Pavilion dv6 16″ Laptop. It came with Windows 7, 64-Bit. Aside from the fact that HP stole the keyboard design from the Apple Macbook and attempted to make their crappy plastic case look like Apple’s brushed aluminum, it’s not a bad computer. Except that it runs Windows.
Though no direct fault of Microsoft, the trackpad is the worst piece of pointing hardware I have ever used. The trackpad vacillates between totally dysfunctional and so aggravating I feel like moving back to pen and paper. I can only blame the limitations of the trackpad on HP or at least on HP’s choice to by cheap Synaptics hardware . Microsoft’s own poor software development habits are not at fault this time. Though some of the quirky behavior of the trackpad may be fixable with better software, the current driver support offers very limited maneuverability. The sensitivity is all wrong, it’s physically too small, and like many artifacts in the PC world that are core components of a computer, this one just doesn’t work well.