Why Google is the good empire
We all love Google. The search, the maps, the betas, and the Reader. Why do we love Google so much? Why are they the good empire that loves us as much as we love them? Here's an example: yesterday the F11 key stopped toggling full screen mode in Google Reader in Firefox. I blogged about it here on jkOnTheRun so others would know about the problem since it had worked earlier in the day but stopped working just before I blogged it. Nothing special, just a blog post about it. What happened next is why Google is the good empire. I posted my notice about the bug at 12:10 PM. At 1:48 PM an engineer on the Google Reader team left a comment that acknowledged the bug and stated that a fix would be forthcoming. At 4:41 pm the engineer posted that the bug was fixed. That is phenomenal customer service and why we feel so loved by the Google.
I submit the suspicion that it was a fluke happening. :P
Still, let's all gripe about any Google problems to James and Kevin, then they can blog about it and Google will fix it! Yay! :)
Posted by: cr0ft | October 10, 2007 at 06:05 AM
You ever sign up for their News Alerts? They're a frikkin JOKE!
I have "Heather Johnston" set to alert and I get crap with "Heather JohnSON" in my Alerts. What, they think they know what I want better than I do? That I can't spell?
Their news search has also hit the toilet, with items appearing *days* after actual publication -- if at all.
Posted by: Mike Cane | October 10, 2007 at 06:59 AM
@James,
I don't think I'd go as far as to call any "empire" a good thing... especially one that is on the record as having its sole purpose to "index *everything*" ...
That said, I don't think Google is evil either. They're a business, and any business will do what it takes to succeed. So far, they generally do a good job as long as privacy isn't a concern.
@Mike Cane,
If you have an alert for a NAME, then you are going to get a wide range of alerts. Try using quotes around the name to specify exact matches. That or just try being more specific.
Posted by: GoodThings2Life | October 10, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Well, duh. Using quotes is like n00b 101, OK?
How much more fekkin specific can I get with a PERSON'S NAME? And how does a freakin algorithm work that it gives me JohnSON when I want JohnsTon? How'd you like your MS Word Find facility to work like that? You wouldn't! My complaint is justified. Dismissed!
Posted by: Mike Cane | October 10, 2007 at 10:21 AM