Google’s Bedside Manner
Interesting that the latest columns from two of my favorite tech commentators, Jon Udell and Bob Cringely, both deal with how out of touch Google’s customer service and PR departments have become. Google is sounding more and more like Microsoft (in its early 1990’s incarnation) every day (which has both positive and negative implications). All this is based on hearsay, of course: I’ve never interacted with anyone from Google who wasn’t highly intelligent, articulate and polite (and the same goes for Microsoft, actually).
It’s relatively easy for a tech-focused company packed with programmers to excel in software development. Avoiding generic corporate-think in the ancilliary functions is a lot more of a challenge. I’m sure that Google won’t wither and die because its spin doctors irked influential pundits like Jon and Bob, but the long-term trend is a bit worrying. Cringely is absolutely right: a world-class company needs to recognize and address these issues as well as rolling out great software.
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The reality is that google.com specially incripted analogs are its power source within the market of search engines. Moreover, it is in its modifications which denotes changes in both its plan’ed’ direction, and whether it had reached its goals based upon such planning - egineering programs.
Thus there is mathmatician turned computer programer, who has had an advance knowledge of higher mathmatical anlogs, and topology, along with the board of directors of some sort of corporate arrangement which is who and what is going on with google dot com and nothing else.
Once you are able to fully comprehend this, then your attention starts to focus more clearly, in as much as it is it’s robat crawlers is what google dot com is all about. A very little else.
It is for that reason why google dot com, and correctly so, made sure that the judgement criterion was engineered into the programing of the crawlers themselves. This was done to obtain distance in which a human is in the decision role. Thus you have a major corporation who litterally depended upon the sum of its program, and not in a human worker. Thus its coporate leadership in caught in Vulcan like culture, and at any time ” A ” Spock like character will appear to discuss the logic of what just happened with the new midification he has developed.
This is a unique change in human history.
Thus everything is then turned into logic confrontations and debates.
Mr. Roger M. Christian
Ithaca, New York
ithacadance@aol.com
Comment by Mr. Roger M. Christian — 6/5/2006 @ 4:43 pm
This may not be the best place to post this, but I never got response from the invite I received over two months ago and filled out. I mean, I got an invite, but no link for the Firefox extension. When will I get in? Thanks.
Comment by Inquiring Mind — 6/5/2006 @ 8:23 pm
Me too, I never got a response either.
Comment by pascal — 6/6/2006 @ 5:47 pm
When will this thing show its face. Looking a little like vapoware at the moment. I was so happy when my email came then nothing.
Comment by David — 6/7/2006 @ 7:17 am
I believe they are becoming more like Apple support, ignorant and hypocrats, slowly and gradually.
Comment by Eliza — 6/7/2006 @ 1:17 pm
We have a lot of invites to send out, and we’re spreading them out over time since this is the whole point of the beta test phase. I’d rather have 500 people report bugs than 50,000 reporting the same bugs 100 times more often. The unfortunate offshoot is that we can’t offer everyone instant gratification. Please be patient. I don’t expect it to be much longer before everyone who has registered gets an activation code.
Comment by Matt — 6/7/2006 @ 1:39 pm
Would “much longer” equal a quarter more likely than a week?
Comment by Fredrik — 6/7/2006 @ 2:20 pm
Definitely weeks rather than months, and hopefully not more than 3 or 4 of them. We’re working extremely hard, but sometimes things take longer than expected so I can’t guarantee this. When we have a firmer grip on the date we will announce it immediately here on Peer Pressure.
Comment by Matt — 6/7/2006 @ 2:30 pm
Customer satisfaction should be the first motive of any org. Since future is uncertain, may the one google, which is on the top today, has to experience a downfall coz of its carelessness tomorrow.
Comment by Mak — 6/10/2006 @ 6:04 am
With their unsound PR departments, they are at their own loss. Since PR is a deliberate and sustained efforts to build goodwill, google might loose their present status in the future. They really need to do something to maintain the same.
Comment by Alice — 6/12/2006 @ 6:33 am
Even i m there with you Pascal. That’s embarassing, i m planning for a protest.Wat do you say??????
Comment by Rachel — 7/5/2006 @ 7:45 am