http://www.aliweb.com/ was one of the earliest internet search engines... then suddenly one day someone said....
"dude! lets google it."
...And since then the world has been doing so. Under the desk in class...in the exam hall when the invigilator is not looking...or for more legitimate work like making project...writing codes...looking up anything for any work on the face of the Earth. Competitors came n remained...but could not really become the master of the Search market. The star of Google shone brightly above them all.
The USB was its basic simplicity and uncluttered features. The homepage itself shows how simple the engine is. new features were added and loved by the people...Google was still simple!
The Google mail service was a blockbuster! Gmail hit it off with the people...reason: again uncluttered simplicity of features.
The web browser, Chrome...people like it for its...once again...simplicity...and yes speed! Many users prefer Firefox and other browsers for their work but Chrome has actually managed to solve many of the problems that Firefox had and its users hadn't even noticed. And this makes Chrome faster than other browsers. Simply speaking...Chrome lacks complexities!
Aha....does anyone remember a social network called Orkut?
It was very popular...until Google started introducing Facebook like features in it.
Too many features....too many attempts to give the users a FB like feel...the users quietly switched over to the original one. Faithful Orkutians, like me, became regulars at Facebook.
Orkut lost its simplicity and consequently, its market.
Then began the War....
And....
Google recognised the threats. This led to Google introducing newer services. Google converted its features into separate services and grouped then under a users Account. Now any person having a Gmail account automatically had a Google Account and could easily access all the services provided by Google. Blogger, Docs, Picasa....and so many other services. So far so good!
Google came up with Wave. Like most other Google services this too was a "by invitation only" service at the beginning. But unlike Orkut and Gmail this "by invitation only" formula didnt work for Wave. Instead of becoming a much coveted service, Wave met with a cold response. People who didn't have Wave invitations chose not to Wave. They had other options....Facebook and Twitter were always available.
Google Buzz was yet another failed attempt to beat competition. This time it was aimed at Twitter.
And now....there is a new Project. A brand new Social Network by Google:
The most basic problem that this social site may face is that this is again a "by invitation only" service till now. It may turn out to be a super hit but then again it may meet the same fate as Wave. This service is reportedly similar to Facebook...with some added features like Circles, Sparks and Hangout.
Circles are basically groups in which the user can divide his friends and all sharing, posting and commenting is done with the group you select. So as far as security and privacy is concerned G+ is a step ahead of Facebook. Sparks is a news-based stream and Hangout can give good competition to Skype.
But then again, reviews say, that the service is quite complex in itself and requires a lot getting used to. A user needs to really have patience to sort out the Circles and set his network up while getting used to the complexities on the way.
When you come to think of it...Facebook does have groups these days and sharing with only one group is possible. if you chose to make the group private you can easily ensure that no one else in yours friend list sees it.
But then Google hasn't Invited me to use G+ yet...so i wouldn't know the G+ experience and how its better than FB.
"the biggest hurdle for the web giant is that a collection of cool features doesn’t make a network. People do."
Its true. People currently using this service are people who already own a Google Account. Only those who have a Google Profile can really participate fully in the G+ activities because as mentioned earlier Google has converted all its significant features into separate services available to all Google Account holders. There is no easy way to pull in contacts from Twitter...let alone Facebook. It is necessary to extend the online activity of a user to a broad section of his/her actual social graph. The survival of a Social Network largely depends on the networks it either creates or takes advantage of....so "Surviving Solo" is not a idea that'll help a Social Network survive.
Interesting and new features, enhanced security and privacy, good looks.....G+ has it all. All it needs is a market. You need people to create a super hit social network... the question is, can G+ do it?
source of information and images: Google search engine
