Google Buzz or Beta?

Last week, CBC's Doc Zone aired a documentary feature entitled Google World.

It is a brief flash at life at world headquarters where think tanks and creative minds meld. It's a human experiment forever in beta.

The film describes life at Google as a neverending co-creative place to work.


Collaborative teams embrace emerging technologies and encourage ideas. Everyone walks around with laptops creating and devising. Sounds cool.

In the documentary, Google CEO Eric Schmidt talks about the importance of trust. No argument here, we have to trust these companies with our information.

The question remains, do have a choice? It's okay, it's in beta.

The company is busy. It introduced Wave last year and their purchase of Aardvark last week. And let's not forget all the others.

Google Buzz has been introduced as the company’s latest leap in to the social web but it has been anything but smooth. Last week, the news cycle was jammed with stories of Google Buzz and its privacy issues.

The company was quick to respond with claims that they figured we wanted it this way and they are working on the problem.

Google is a company that gives us the impression they are always working on the problem, always in beta and experimentation. They want our input through their collaborative products and we are to trust them, right?

As a publically traded company employing thousands of the best and brightest, you’d think they would iron out these hiccups before rushing to market. It was a simple mistake, right? Sure, it's in beta.

The Search is ON.

The company is in a heated battle with Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo for digital supremacy. Strange things happen when greed creeps in to design and collaboration.

I use Google products and I like them but to say that privacy is a top priority would be among the biggest of all understatements. Do we really know who has our stuff? No worries, it's in beta.

A company that houses zettabytes worth of personal information in thousands of acres of secured server farms all over the world claims it was caught off guard on this little privacy glitch on Google Buzz.

And we believe them, right?

(editor's note: this blog post is in beta)

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: google earth

History Made. Now What?

Barak Obama and Joe Biden will be sworn in to office on January 20th, 2009. It was a crushing and decisive victory over John McCain and Sarah Palin. What is clear is that according to the popular vote, Obama still only received just over half of the votes last night.

There were polls and surveys almost hourly throughout the last year and it was interesting to see the growing support for President-elect Obama around the world. I can’t speak for others but my impromptu unscientific survey amongst my fellow Canadian friends and colleagues gave the Obama/Biden ticket a landslide.

No matter how you analyze the numbers, the election is over and now it will take leadership and collaboration.

Anytime we feel a movement and momentum we also feel hope and teamwork. As Obama said last night, he does need the help of the American people. No one person will solve these big issues. We should be ready to help too. Ready to help each other. This includes us in Canada.

My favorite passage from Obama's speech last night: "It's the answer that lead those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve. To put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day."

One of the most powerful words anyone can use is - we.

km