Sunny.Molini » Google http://sunny.molini.us Assembled from the spare parts of other nerds to create... the Ubernerd Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:17:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Dave Winer Complains About Google Reader http://sunny.molini.us/2009/12/dave-whiner-complains-about-google-reader/ http://sunny.molini.us/2009/12/dave-whiner-complains-about-google-reader/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:42:01 +0000 Sunny http://sunny.molini.us/?p=717 Dave Winer, one of the creators of RSS, has always been vocal about his vision of the way RSS ‘should be used.’ He has always been fairly critical of the way that Google Reader shows RSS data. I’d like to equate this to the inventor of the hammer complaining that people use it to actually remove nails in addition to pounding them in.
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Mr. Winer, I fully appreciate the great contributions that you’ve made to the Internet. Your input on the variety of new technologies that have and are emerging are invaluable and I subscribe to many of your feeds. I do, in fact, agree with your perspective of RSS as a river of news, the vast majority of which can and should go unexamined. I must say though, that your ire against Google is significantly misdirected.
In the first place, you assume that the model of email is that it is general practice for users to examine every email that enters their inbox. I can assure you that this is certainly not true for many people. I have no desire to read my 5-6 daily emails from twitter telling me about each individual new follower I have, but they are good to have because I can then go back through those emails and examine for possible followbacks. Email is as much for record keeping and formality as for actual communication. Good email programs help the user prioritize and sort emails into ‘read now,’ ‘read later,’ and ‘just store for reference later.’
Different users have different needs for RSS too. The biggest difference is that RSS is generally public, and widely accessible. As opposed to email which is single target. Users want to be able to sort their feeds into ‘catch every one,’ ‘check frequently,’ and ‘mostly ignore, but scan for headlines.’ Google Reader gives users exactly that kind of flexibility. In fact, I use Google Reader precisely because it gives me the level of granularity of control that I need and provides a great river of news look. Only thing that could make it better would be auto-refresh and the ability to suppress the ‘unread’ on selected folders if I wish to.

]]> http://sunny.molini.us/2009/12/dave-whiner-complains-about-google-reader/feed/ 0 Be the first to view the Google Printer http://sunny.molini.us/2009/09/be-the-first-to-view-the-gootenberg-press/ http://sunny.molini.us/2009/09/be-the-first-to-view-the-gootenberg-press/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:12:13 +0000 Sunny http://molini.us/sunnysays/?p=570

As part of a deal announced Thursday, Google is opening up part of its index to the maker of a high-speed publishing machine that can manufacture a paperback-bound book of about 300 pages in under five minutes. The new service is an acknowledgment by the Internet search leader that not everyone wants their books served up on a computer or an electronic reader like those made by Amazon.com Inc. and Sony Inc.

Gootenberg
Google to reincarnate digital books as paperbacks
The machines sell for $100K, so there will probably be one in every college bookstore by 2015. The breakdown was that the sample 300 pg book should retail for $8, with $1 each going to the retailer and $1 going to Google.
The Gutenberg press was revolutionary because it made it affordable to to print a million copies of any 1 document. The Gootenberg press Google instant press can print any public domain book, probably in less than 10 minutes.

For the record, this was already fully possible with a simple laser printer and access to Gutenberg.org.

 

DISCLAIMER (12/2/2011): It has been brought to my attention, that there has in fact been a company (founded in the 1970′s) called “Gootenberg Press,” the family of this company  has requested that I be mindful of that fact. Please be aware that this article has nothing to do with the writings of anyone with the last name of ‘Gootenberg’ and that the actual device created by Google is not been named the ‘Gootenberg Press’ by Google. This post is not to be in any way associated with anything related to the Gootenberg family. I have renamed the post, and made a few modifications to the content.

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