6.19.2007

What I'd Like to See From Google Products




MyMaps - More customization and more detail. I want to add icons so that I can separate brunch places from dinner restaurants. I want to be able to add an address, as well as add detailed information, as well as a star rating, all identified independently in the window and viewable in the sidebar. There should also be tags (or labels, since this is a Google product). And how come street-view doesn't work in MyMaps? It should have a streetview preview option under each of the locations in your left list.

Blogger
- Why can't we add maps to blogger posts and/or blogger sidebars? I would love to offer a workable embedded image of my custom maps directly in my blog, with options to switch between shared maps.

Desktop - There is still not gadget for Google Reader - wouldn't the one that works on iGoogle fit perfectly on our desktop? It also makes sense from the inter-operable widget platform that Google pitched across Pagemaker, iGoogle, and Desktop.

Page Creator - Having no ability to insert Javascript makes this useless for more advanced projects. I basically just use the 200K to store small files that I want served as or in web pages. In that case, who needs Pagemaker? Give us some real storage - 20gb - and allow us to use it for all of your products - eMail, file serving, photo uploading, website design, etc.

Calendar - There is no Google managed task lists or project management yet in Calendar - Remember the Milk is an unnecessary third party application for simple task management. Project management could also be added in to Google Docs; many people use Google Docs for weekly work status sheets, so having embedded calendar features would be fantastic. This is a general theme - allowing us to utilize great features from one Google application in another.

Reader Mobile - Unfortunately the "mark all as read" option doesn't work from my mobile phone (although it works here now as I try it from a normal firefox web browser). Can Google find a way to make this work with Verizon's horrendous web browser? I'd also love if we could turn off certain features, like the different flare that some sites add to every post (add to flickr at to twitter ad to this and that) - it ends up being longer than the blog post and you have to scroll past all of it to see the next item.

What changes, additions, revisions, corrections, etc. do you want in Google products?

6.10.2007

Hate that you can't get customer support on the line when you call?





Apparently this new service, Bringo!, will wade through the menus for you and call you back when you're about to connect to a real support person.  From the site:

  1. Find the company you'd like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, loans, health care)
  2. Enter your phone # (we will never disclose your phone number to anyone, not even your mother!).
  3. Wait a few seconds while we navigate the phone tree.
  4. When we call you back, pick up your phone and you're done. No more phone trees.
I haven't tried it, but if it works, this could be a service people love!