Because so many folks are riding on the high of the next big IPO (that would be Google’s), the language around and about Google is verging on the order of the grotesque. I so dislike the gerund “Googling” or the verb form “to Google.”
But, Google released today a well-timed little toy called Google Web Alerts, which gives Google the right to regularly send you updated online information (links, new sites) about an industry, idea, person, or pumpkin. I’m going to set one up right now; the alert will be named “bubble 2.0.” I’m sorry, but Google just seems to be reaching. They’re other new search tool is personalized searching — but if it doesn’t work on Safari, and it does not, it’s not very personalized for me.
Bubble indeed… a similar tool to the Web Alerts has been around for some time now at Google Alert (www.googlealert.com) – seems a lot better too!
This reminds me of a little saying I used to have on my site but eventually got sick it: “Google changed my life. This says something about my life.”
Also, I don’t get that personalized search tool. I looked at it thinking, “Well, if Google did it, it must be cool.” But then I couldn’t figure out what’s cool about it. I wondered if my mother would think it was cool, and I couldn’t see how she would.
I do like the idea of interrogating technology with the question: “Would my mother think it was cool?” Google has become a star because of their “humane approach,” their “do no evil” corporate philosophy, and their incredible growth in just a few years, in part because of non-banner ads. But Google is a thin tool that works well for certain searches and is starting to look silly in the midst of (i) public (o) scrutiny.
Actually, your Safari concerns are unfounded. Safari masquerades as one of the other browsers, when it idenfies itself to a server – I think it presents itself as IE, much the same way that Opera is capable of disguising itself.
But if you’re using Safari, you’re just a Mac elitist – everybody knows that Mozilla’s the best browser out there…