Google+ -> Augmented Reality (AR) App ?
Michael Robson left a comment on my Google+ and a Revolution in Social post tonight. I started writing a response to it and started drafting out some thoughts on why I think Google+ is ultimately being developed. I thought it would be worthwhile to put it up as a post to start a discussion about it.
Be sure to check out Michael’s review of Stephen Levy’s “In the Plex” which is about Google.
I speculated a bit on why Google would want a social network last year before G+ was in existence and I think their aim is social search. If I do a search for a book, Google will eventually show me a list of books that you and the rest of my social graph have read first, and then list best sellers, and so forth. Circles allows them to see how we are connected to people and who has higher priorities in our lives. Recommendations from friends and family will be slightly higher than people I’m just “following.”
But you’re right with your last point. Mobile is the future for G+. It’s a staggering amount of Android devices being activated daily. Every Android device is attached to a GMail account, which is attached to… a G+ profile. It’s why people have been spreading rumours about a Facebook phone (which I’m sure would be selling at a million users a day if the phone was good and offered globally). That’s the primary focus.
With the G+ app on Android, you have the option to upload your pics automatically to G+ (set as private as the default). I think this will help Google build a larger geo-centric graph and create a better sense of what we’re seeing, not just sharing. Maybe not so much with family photos, but when they start analyzing the data of the scenery behind the human figures in photos, they will be able build a hierarchy of the visual.
Going to take a big leap here, but think about the world in Minority Report. Tom Cruise walks down a pathway and everywhere he looks there are ads popping up directed at him. Surely, not all those ad placements will cost the same, but how do you judge which wall should have premium costs involved? I think the groundwork starts with G+ on Android, so they can begin development on the Augmented Reality (AR) apps.
They already know where we are (GPS).
They know what’s there (Maps, Places, Latitude)
Now they need to know what we’re looking at.Of course, it’s late at night and I may be dreaming.
Jul 17, 2011 @ 08:26:00
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:47:00
I was showing my mom some of the features that Google+ has available, and while she thought it looked useful, she had the same concerns as everyone else – how do I get my stuff from Facebook onto Google+? Her other issue is that all of her friends are on Facebook, and some of them just signed up for the service in the past few months. How are they going to get motivated to sign up for a new service when they haven’t understood their current one completely?
Facebook is a convenience thing for me. It’s like the Walmart (or the Canadian Superstore) where as Google+ is like Whole Foods (not that we have those here, but we do have organic grocery stores). The experience is a bit cleaner, less noise, and I feel better about being there than I do on Facebook. Think I’m going to make that my status on Twitter.
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:47:00
I was showing my mom some of the features that Google+ has available, and while she thought it looked useful, she had the same concerns as everyone else – how do I get my stuff from Facebook onto Google+? Her other issue is that all of her friends are on Facebook, and some of them just signed up for the service in the past few months. How are they going to get motivated to sign up for a new service when they haven’t understood their current one completely?
Facebook is a convenience thing for me. It’s like the Walmart (or the Canadian Superstore) where as Google+ is like Whole Foods (not that we have those here, but we do have organic grocery stores). The experience is a bit cleaner, less noise, and I feel better about being there than I do on Facebook. Think I’m going to make that my status on Twitter.
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:47:00
I was showing my mom some of the features that Google+ has available, and while she thought it looked useful, she had the same concerns as everyone else – how do I get my stuff from Facebook onto Google+? Her other issue is that all of her friends are on Facebook, and some of them just signed up for the service in the past few months. How are they going to get motivated to sign up for a new service when they haven’t understood their current one completely?
Facebook is a convenience thing for me. It’s like the Walmart (or the Canadian Superstore) where as Google+ is like Whole Foods (not that we have those here, but we do have organic grocery stores). The experience is a bit cleaner, less noise, and I feel better about being there than I do on Facebook. Think I’m going to make that my status on Twitter.
Jul 17, 2011 @ 11:07:00
Dreaming? No, I think Michael’s onto something there.
This is great food for thought. Good of you to curate one of your commenters like this.
Jul 17, 2011 @ 11:07:00
Dreaming? No, I think Michael’s onto something there.
This is great food for thought. Good of you to curate one of your commenters like this.
Jul 17, 2011 @ 11:07:00
Dreaming? No, I think Michael’s onto something there.
This is great food for thought. Good of you to curate one of your commenters like this.
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:43:00
It was actually my comment in response to Michael’s comment, but I will give him credit for making me start thinking more deeply about this thing at such a late hour.
I would definitely curate the comments left on my posts, but I need comments in order to do that. In order to receive comments, I need to write more enticing posts for people to comment on. In order to write enticing posts, I need comments that inspire me.
Such a vicious circle!
But I am working on creating some better posts – deep think most likely.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:43:00
It was actually my comment in response to Michael’s comment, but I will give him credit for making me start thinking more deeply about this thing at such a late hour.
I would definitely curate the comments left on my posts, but I need comments in order to do that. In order to receive comments, I need to write more enticing posts for people to comment on. In order to write enticing posts, I need comments that inspire me.
Such a vicious circle!
But I am working on creating some better posts – deep think most likely.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:43:00
It was actually my comment in response to Michael’s comment, but I will give him credit for making me start thinking more deeply about this thing at such a late hour.
I would definitely curate the comments left on my posts, but I need comments in order to do that. In order to receive comments, I need to write more enticing posts for people to comment on. In order to write enticing posts, I need comments that inspire me.
Such a vicious circle!
But I am working on creating some better posts – deep think most likely.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jul 18, 2011 @ 10:01:00
What can I say – you’re both onto something. I came back to comment on your post after I read Michael’s, and it was still fresh in my mind.
The hardest part of blogging is getting people to comment. Readers feel reluctant to comment. One key factor for a blog is to slowly but steadily become a community. @TheJackB regularly hauls in a ton of comments because his readers, myself included, see his blog as a hangout, a place where interesting conversations happen.
Blogs like yours and mine do not benefit from the me-first mentality at work on sites like YouTube, where everyone’s screaming to comment on a video first. That’s another thing that motivates commenters: competition. Now, the kind of competition among users that you get on YouTube is largely unhealthy (it consists mostly of name-calling) and you don’t want to replicate that kind of ‘success.’
But when you gain some traction and smart readers start adding their two cents to every post you release… others will be motivated to outshine them or, at least, try and show they’re every bit as smart as the person that commented before them.
Jul 18, 2011 @ 00:43:00
It was actually my comment in response to Michael’s comment, but I will give him credit for making me start thinking more deeply about this thing at such a late hour.
I would definitely curate the comments left on my posts, but I need comments in order to do that. In order to receive comments, I need to write more enticing posts for people to comment on. In order to write enticing posts, I need comments that inspire me.
Such a vicious circle!
But I am working on creating some better posts – deep think most likely.
Thanks for stopping by!
Jul 17, 2011 @ 11:07:00
Dreaming? No, I think Michael’s onto something there.
This is great food for thought. Good of you to curate one of your commenters like this.