I wanted to write an obligatory reactive post to Google+, but without having actual access to the service yet, I have a limited idea of what it looks like and how useful it will be.
Instead, I want to talk about my friend who did get a preview from Google because of her sweet connections. She’s on there, and tried to invite some of her friends, but it won’t let her invite anyone. So, she’s on a social network with no way to be social. It’s like being in the coolest club all by yourself.
I get why Google needs to role out this software slowly. It’s new. It probably has unforeseen bugs. Because it’s release is limited, people put insane expectations on it, like it will cure cancer and bring Facebook to its knees.
But it’s just a social network. Google already has a billion unique users, so they need to be prepared for a billion people to log on and use this thing. Google needs to make sure they will scale this network appropriately so users can actually use and enjoy it.
Thus we get stuck in an awkward role out, like we have before for Google Wave.
Time will tell when the doors open to everyone if the club is really that cool. Until then, we can just stand outside the door while we wait and complain that we can’t get in. Meanwhile, inside, a few lonely people dance by themselves.
And the bouncer is a cardboard cutout of that illustration of Googlebot.
I wish it was the Andriod robot. As much as I dislike Android as an OS, s/he’s cuddly.