Lively.com? What the F**k Is Google Thinking?
Remember Orkut? The social network might be popular in Brazil, but it is a tiny fish when compared to Myspace or Facebook.
Now we have Lively, a new virtual reality site which, as Andy Beal puts it, will be the the Orkut to Second Life.
My question? WHY?
As Google posts in their blog,
A while ago, I looked around the social web and wished that it could be less static. Sure, you can leave a comment on a blog or write a text blurb on your social networking profile. But what if you want to express yourself in a more fun way, with 3D graphics and real-time avatar interactions?
This is a 20% time project.
My opinion is that virtual reality is destined for a small niche of the Internet. It is rather 2006, actually. And even if I am wrong on that point, one overriding point remains: Isn’t Google supposed to be a search company?
There are so many other truly useful things Google could be working on and releasing. I need a to-do list application, not a cartoon character.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...
- What Did Google Do Right?
- Last Week In Short, OpenSocial, Google Mobile Alliance
- Does Facebook Represent a Google Killer?
- Yahoo Strokes Google, Puts on Show for Microsoft
- Google Updates Their Adsense Policies
Comments
David, innovation is not a linear process. After all Nokia started to make cell phones because rubber shoes were not selling that well. Looking at it from another point of view - Google is not a search, it is advertisement company (most of revenue is ad generated) and virtual spaces are great for advertising. Imagine how many ads could you show daily if your blog had a virtual room attached, where I could meet ‘in person’ your other readers.
“My opinion is that virtual reality is destined for a small niche of the Internet.”
hmmm not necessarily - kids and teens are getting used to these virtual reality games - hence they expect that socialising/ chatting/ meeting new people should go in that direction too..
Actually, you’re so right!
But on the other hand Google has to stay on the ball as “it” wants to keep the title “God Of Internet”… I mean it!
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a video hosting site, a rss feed aggregator, a social platform or an ad platform (and yes, G will eat Y!), it’s all about the traffic, gaining power and monetizing…
“It’s All About Results™”
Just went to a conference about Human Resource issues, and some people use virtual worlds to recruit staff and to communicate with colleagues - anyone done this before?
All seems a bit much….