All Content
All Content
Podcast in iTunes
Follow me on Twitter
Are We Moving Toward GooOS, the Google Operating System?
January 30th, 2007 | Posted in Web 2.0 |
Joining the other online tools is Cellsea, an online photo editor. Now if you use Cellsea with Google Docs you can use an online word processor, a online excel spreadsheet, and an online photo editor (replacing your Snagit or Photoshop). Your WordPress blog is online, your banking is online, your news is online, your gmail is online, your photos are online with Flickr, your videos are online with Youtube. Now even your movies will be online with Netflix. What do you need your local harddrive for anymore?
I found Cellsea intriguing, but not smooth enough to make me a convert. As bandwidth speeds increase, though, I think we’ll see more online applications emerge. This is only the start. Many people think Vista will be the last operating system installed locally. Then Google will emerge with an online operating system, called by some GooOS (click on image at right to see full view (note — the image is from this site). The online operating system would not only be convenient, it would also have more information about users than ever before. Here’s an excerpt from Jason Kottke’s post:
So. They [Google] have this huge map of the Web and are aware of how people move around in the virtual space it represents. They have the perfect place to store this map (one of the world’s largest computers that’s all but incapable of crashing). And they are clever at reading this map. Google knows what people write about, what they search for, what they shop for, they know who wants to advertise and how effective those advertisements are, and they’re about to know how we communicate with friends and loved ones. What can they do with all that? Just about anything that collection of Ph.Ds can dream up.
Think about all the data Google would collect if they ran an online operating system. Microsoft currently collects data from users if the users choose to participate and allow their info to be submitted (or so MS says). But Google saves information about every search and link and surfing pattern. You can watch the top keywords searched, or view trends. Apply that to the desktop environment, and you could collect some amazing data about how people use computers.
How does this apply to technical writers? You could analyze how people are using the applications you document. You could watch usage in real-time. You could apply heat maps to applications to see what areas users are clicking. You could really get inside the users’ brains — if users had a little webcam, they could just flip it on and you could watch them use the application with their face in one corner of the screen while you observe their mouse moving in real-time. In short, it would make us technical writers a lot smarter about our users.
Related Posts
- Is technical writing boring?
- STC Conference: Chris Thompson on Searching for a Content Management System
- Google Groups Rocks — Find Answers to Almost Everything
- Making a Chapter Member Map Mashup with Google Maps
- Google 411 — Free Information Listings via Phone
February 1st, 2007 at 12:22 pm
While not exactly related - this post brought to mind this article in the WSJ - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117011971274291861-search.html?KEYWORDS=thin+client&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
evidently - a lot of companies are moving to thin clients again… with the reasoning that centralized data makes it easy to manage and keep secure… he who controls the data, can control our actions. Clearly, Google has seen this. Those ppl at Google are scary-smart.
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Thanks for the recommended link from the Wall Street Journal. Looks like a good article. The whole idea of everyone being plugged into Google sounds very much like the Borg concept from Star Trek.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
There are now a bunch of online operating systems available. http://www.cmyos.com is one of them that is very nice. cmyOS, is and open source project running on eyeOS, that enables the installation of applications, free unlimited storage space for songs, movies and documents. You can also create and edit documents in the operating system as well, and it is free.
June 18th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
[...] with Google Docs ?you can use an online word processor, a online excel spreadsheet, and an online photo. the start. Many people think Vista will be the last operating system installed locally. Then Google. excerpt from Jason Kottke s post : So. They [Google] have this huge map of the Web and are aware.). And they are clever at reading this map. Google knows what people write about , what they search for , what. Google would collect if they ran an online operating system. Microsoft currently collects data from (continues) [...]
April 7th, 2008 at 11:37 am
[...] Only $249/mo. Try Free Sponsored by: http://www.quickbase.com/ [Found on Ads by Google] 2. Are We Moving Toward GooOS, the Google Operating System? | I’d … Jan 30, 2007 … cmyOS, is and open source project running on eyeOS, that enables the … a [...]
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Yes. We are moving toward the GOOGLE OS.. And I think it’s really really bad. They already have a monopoly on search traffic. People say “so what?” But are they really thinking this through. Do you know what power that gives them because of the money that is made up off of advertising? It’s sick. There needs to be competition in every major market. Where is it here? Why can’t anyone give these guys a run? The OS will make the privacy issues even worse. Oh no! I hate to think of what they will know after that!!! Run. Fast.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:49 am
At the end, Google will have more control than Microsoft… the most funny is that people go to Google because they are upset on Microsoft’s monopole