Comments on: “Everyone just Googles”

By: Links for today | Links para hoje « O Lago | The Lake

Links for today | Links para hoje « O Lago | The Lake — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:13:40 +0000

[...] “Everyone just Googles”, Joanna Geary [...]

By: Jonathan Walker

Jonathan Walker — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:52:30 +0000

Anything which requires training to use is always going to have a limited audience. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth using, just that many people won’t use it.

People “Google” because it’s easy – if you want to know about Manchester United, you type the words Manchester United into a box and press enter.

The technologies that win out will be the ones that make things easy. Google News http://news.google.com/ is halfway there with the ability to create news alerts and customise your Google news page, but it still seems just a little techie.

Technology which makes the process very easy, almost invisible, to the non-technical user, will eventually emerge. The challenge is not to try to push people into using technology they feel uncomfortable with, but to be ready for the more intuitive and widely-accepted technology when it comes.

By: Lee Kemp

Lee Kemp — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:52:11 +0000

RSS is perfect for those people who want their news, immediately and near infinite. Newspapers are great for those people who like their news more distilled and finite. The first does not necessarily have to supersede the second.

By: Dilyan

Dilyan — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 10:15:58 +0000

It is true that RSS is not as user-friendly as paper in many respects. It is also true that information delivered via RSS can be more relevant, timely and tailored (and thus, potentially, more valuable) than that delivered via a 50p transaction. So we either have to make RSS more accessible or make newspapers more relevant.

I give up on the second task, but on RSS I can imagine a future for it where it is a “back-office” technology that automatically feeds consumer products such as iPods, phones and e-book readers on the basis of GPS data and the information in those devices’ users’ profiles.

And if people need to find something specific, they’ll just Google like everybody else.

By: Geraint Palmer

Geraint Palmer — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:48:07 +0000

We still very much on the edge of a technological and social revolution. Some people just wont adapt. others will, and new generation will wonder what all the fuss is about.

I cant get over the fact that were a year away from being a decade into the 21st centure and only now theres a US president who has mobile email

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/22/confirmed-obama-gets-his-blackberry-no-sectera-edge-in-sight/

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:37:21 +0000

RSS is hard because it’s a difficult to understand that things will just appear, it’s also pretty tech you have to get this little address thing and then paste it into Google Reader.

If the experience is easier and more carefully designed then more people will use it, unfortunately this isn’t easy because there’s the site in question, your browser and the actual newsreader all getting in the way.

I’ve been recommending http://rososo.com/ a way in to showing people RSS without confusing them, you add sites that you visit most and it shows you which site has updated last, less clutter and easier to get.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:29:50 +0000

For the price of a months subscription to a national paper you could pretty much fund a contract that will get you an iPhone which offers a pretty good browsing experience of all the news sites you’ll ever need.

I think that puts the 50p transaction into an interesting perspective.

By: Ewan Spence

Ewan Spence — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:57:42 +0000

Just to highlight the other area, which perhaps feeds back to a previsous post here, is that “50p transaction.” As more people die off, the people who are replacing them don’t see that 50p transaction as value for money. When you have newspapers like Metro and the London Evenign Freesheets, there’s already a push to negate that transaction and part of print media’s income.

Add in the availability of broadly the same information online at a newspaper site, and you start to see a pattern of free information arriving. The challenge is where to make that 50p transation, and who to make it with, IMO.

By: Stuart Harrison

Stuart Harrison — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:17:30 +0000

The only problem with RSS feeds is actually explaining what they are. I think the term RSS (like most acronyms), combined with talk of downloading extra software scares the beejesus out of some people and they go running for the hills.

Most modern browsers have a live bookmarks feature built in, so personally I wouldn’t waste time talking about feed readers etc, just call it a ‘live bookmark’, and explain how to use it in different browsers. People who are savvy enough to use feed readers will know what to do with it anyway.

I certainly don’t think “everyone just Googles”, unless you’re looking for something specific, Google doesn’t cut it.

By: Jayne Howarth

Jayne Howarth — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:12:37 +0000

The lawyer does have a point: not everyone understands – nor wants to understand – the minutiae of the internet and how it can work for them.

It is like having the same sides of a magnet trying to push together. It just won’t –from. whether it’s the positive side or the negative. Neither will truly understand where the other is coming from.

It takes time and effort to learn about online workings – it’s something I am only just starting to become comfortable with and I have a mountain the size of Everest to climb before I really get to grips with all it could do for me.

It’s like Michael said, there is no “one size fits all”. When it comes to media consumption, some people will like the convenience of seeing it online and will find the time to set up RSS feeds and the like so that it is tailored for them.

Other will prefer to have the paper version in front of them. I’m sure newspaper editors are grateful for that, too.