Out of curiosity

[Suff]

HI all,

The article I was reading, was about how Google is struggling to get businesses on board with google+

Google+ was described as FaceBook, done properly, with the correct rights and permissions to ensure you security of information.

google+ is defined as a set of overlapping circles. Within each circle you group contacts (friends, colleagues, businesses, etc), with whom you interact.

It's not as easy as FB because it is a lot more than FB. It also has the ability to link in streaming youtube and other Google servivces.

I was one of the first connected on google+. I didn't make the beta but I was Invited to join shortly after it was opened to the public. In the end I finally removed my account because I suddenly couldn't link photo's from picasa any more. I could only link my picasa photos to google+. Totally useless so it went. I'm sure they will have sorted these bugs out by now but I'm not inclined to go back.

However. I remember AltaVista. Anyone else, except WM, remember AltaVista? In short AltaVista was the premier search engine before Google. I used it many times a day until someone pointed me to google. I carried on using AltaVista for a while, using google in parallel to check on the results. Google won as I could get what I wanted with a few words on Google but had to use a lot of search criteria in AltaVista. Eventually AltaVista was bought of a song and consumed as a back end search engine. But it took time.

So I was wondering how much google+ had expanded beyond the IT world in the awareness of the general public. I'm assuming that google+, like google web search and gmail, will slowly take over the public awareness and build a community. I doubt that Google will make any huge push for google+ for quite a while. But when it does, I expect FB to take a serious nosedive. I'll be glad too.....

I'm assuming that google+ will integrate into google glass and that will be a serious game changer. Although I'm not sure I'd like my google+ profile to come up on every google glass user I walk past. If I had one.

[Workingman]

a) It's a conglomeration machine of all those TwitBookBucket type things with "added value" so that you can huddle, hang out, go round in circles and play with sparks. It'll be good for google to keep a check on you, err, keep you connected, on your Android devices.......

b) No! Not ever! No chance!

[Diflower]

I knew what it was, but haven't used it.

[Weka]

ive dabbled, but not to any serious point.

yes, use to use altavista all the time too. but ive never bothered with yahoo. again, only dabbled.

but then, I'm only just emerging from the IT world after working in it for 15 years. even though ive got my head firmly in the sand/paint pot/playhouse i try to keep a fraction up to date so if i return, i wont be too far behind. so, not sure what bucket you want to put me in. probably pleb.

[Suff]

I feel that those who are a bit closer to the computer press or to technology in general are aware of google+ however I wondered if those who just use the technology with no real interest in anything about it were aware. I don't believe that most are really interested.

So until Google starts heavily marketing google+ I am somewhat surprised that it has 130 odd million users. Which is quite a lot for a system with a very low profile. Expect awareness of google+ and a whole bombshell of google glass to hit within 24 months.