In defense of something new...

It's no big surprise Scoble is getting reamed over his support for Mahalo. Personally, I find the backlash and utter disdain for Mahalo reprehensible. Here's a note, Web gurus and codemonkeys: Mahalo wasn't made for you! It was made for my granddad, my mom, my cousins in France-- the people who use the web but don't know HOW to use the web, and frankly, they don't give a shit.

Do you care about the inner machinations of your car's gas intake system? Maybe when it breaks down, but you don't get in a car and start pondering the methodology it uses to actually move you around the town, do you? OK, I know, some of you techies (like myself) will get curious and start thinking about it... Well, cut it out. We're talking about everyday people. People with lives, kids, school meetings, insurance issues, lawns to mow, rooms to paint, shows to watch, SHIT TO DO. They don't give a frak HOW Google works, and frankly, I've seen them give up in anguish at some of the simplest things.

For example, take the ABC show "Lost." Three keywords would describe the show: Lost, ABC, island. Those are inherently generic keywords! Put those in Google and you are carpet-bombed with a dizzying array of resources-- probably 60% of which you couldn't care less about. The average user, who you may recall pays our little blogger bills, doesn't have the time or inclination to sift through that mountain of raw data. Nor do they know (nor should they be required to know) how to type a proper input query to find exactly what they are looking for.

That's where Mahalo comes in.

OK, great, you can construct SQL queries in your brain to the nth degree. You are a special person, because I can walk up and down my street and I'll be lucky to find one person who knows and/or cares what SQL is. Point is, keep your Google!

Remember DOS? Remember how you had to know precisely what to type to get precisely the proper result? Now, along comes a GUI, which isn't perfect, but it tries to help you. It presents the most commonly used functions in a clear, understandable manner. It removes the techy requirements of the DOS command line and replaces those with friendly, albeit pre-picked, icons and visual metaphors.

Do you guys still not get it? The GUI? Hello?

Anyway, that's Mahalo. No, it won't pick you up on a Sunday and bubble sort your laundry. No, it won't let you do math equations from the search field. What it will do is find stuff for average users in an easier, more approachable way than a big, blank search field that begs to be gamed rather than grokked.

If you're still not getting it, I propose you hike down to a public library or school or senior center and get a whiff of what everyday people try to do on the web every day. You might be surprised.

I can't believe I'm evangelizing the Mac, uh, Mahalo, but there it is. I get frustrated when people say something is stupid or lame when what they are really saying is "I don't like they way broccoli tastes in MY mouth." Fine, spit it out.

Pointing at shiny things

There's a blogger out there (who shall remain nameless) acting like a bit of a tool. I'm losing respect for the guy, because, frankly, his antics have worn thin. Must we really be subjected to a Mac n00b who professes his love of tech yet acts like a child on Sugar Daddies? I know, you have new toys and you have no clue where to go for information. In case you missed it, we launched a blog a couple of years ago: The Unofficial Apple Weblog. You may be clueless when it comes to using a Mac, but please, don't be clueless when it comes to using Google, ok?

The trouble with photos-- wherefore art thou, Flickr?

I've read a lot about user interfaces, and I've designed some pretty crappy ones in my day (which is a great way to learn). But you'd have to be a bit slow to not acknowledge that Flickr provides some very nice functionality and a tight UI for users n00b and l33t.

So many are asking of today's Apple announcements: why no Flickr uploading in .Mac? The easy answer is "because they want you to buy .Mac for photos!" But this ignores the YouTube uploading. This ignores Picassa online galleries (does anyone use that?). This ignores the relationship, tenuous though it may be, of Apple and Yahoo with PUSH email on iPhone.

The problem is too much choice. As Seinfeld would say, "not that that's a bad thing!" Indeed, choice is great. But as Scoble and others have ruminated, there may be too many diamonds in the coal. (source: Shel Israel)

Like too many microblogging services: Twitter, Pownce and Jaiku are two too many. There isn't enough time to use them all, and too often there isn't enough differentiation... Well, I've wandered.

Apple isn't going to have Flickr upload for puritanical reasons, end-of-story. What isn't the end of the story is if or when external resources will be used again. Google and Apple are quite cozy, so expect that to only get sexier. Apple adopts things when it sees fit, sometimes taking beggars at the feast under the wing for a time. Remember iChat's vaunted use of AIM ID's in place of .Mac? I'd say that's analogous to choosing AT&T as the iPhone partner. Not the best tech, but the widest reach. Steve has finally become the business man he so wanted to be lo those many years ago.

I'm pretty happy about that, having once typed a goodbye letter to the company on my Performa many moons ago. Apple is in the envious position of being the belle of the ball, able to choose its own suitor. Good for them.

Keeping an open mind

I'm slowly coming around to accepting Facebook. Not really because of the tech support, but because there are some legit uses. Mostly it's because Scoble decided to put some really good content on there. If the content is compelling, we're wiling to spend the time, aren't we?

And speaking of time, I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before Pirillo learned to enjoy his iPhone. I was sad he had to rant about a product he had zero experience with. While I tend to rant frequently, loudly and incoherently, I at least have the notion that one should know one's enemy before bombing the hell out of them. Chris had a visceral, kneejerk reaction to a product he felt was overhyped. Of course, my redneck friend Trent (soon to join the blogosphere) had no idea what the hell an iPhone was, so everything is relative.

Anyway, it's nice to see Chris actually taking the time to try the thing out. Even if he still hated it, I'm at least glad he gave it a whirl. However, as I suspected, he's really enjoyed the ease-of-use of the thing, and notes that Apple gets the "little things" right-- even if they completely bork the bigger stuff.

So Chris, for the first time in my life I'm going to embed your video, because I applaud your open-mindedness. It's a geek thing.




UPDATE: Well, I tried to embed a YouTube video into Blogger. But apparently Google is too busy with other things to coordinate between their acquisitions. Guys, just make things work when you buy them, ok?