I’ve been really excited to check out Google+ and here’s a quick set of observations:

3 Things I Like

• Circles – It’s very easy to add people into Circles and you can make a ton of them. So far it seems very intuitive and the fact that an email is set to all the people you add into a Circle makes this very viral.
• Notification Toolbar – I love the fact that I can easily access Google+ and other Google properties while doing a Google Search or checking my gmail. The notifications section in the upper right hand corner is a constant reminder that something might be going on in Google+.
• UI – The experience is very clean and the feeling is very familiar (since it feels like a very close facsimile of Facebook). Things seem to be where they should be and that’s always a plus (no pun intended).

3 Things I Don’t Like

• Lack of Refinement – Yes, I know this is a beta but I guess I expect more out of Google products. Certain features seem to stall or lag when they shouldn’t. For example, typing in the stream update box just seems to be a tad behind the speed of typing. I’ve seen notifications that a comment had been made on a post without the post updating with the comment first.
• Lack of Engagement – While it seems like people are signing up in droves, the amount of engagement is definitely lacking. It seems like most people are taking a wait and see approach and this is causing my stream to be quite boring.
• The Stream – There seems to be a bit too much going on for each individual post. The number of +1s, the number of shares, and the number of comments all seem to take up more space then they need to for each post. A big part is due to the listing of names of people who did share or comment. I also don’t like the fact that you need to click ‘More’ to view more of the stream. I like Facebook’s functionality of automatically loading more posts as your scroll down.

3 Things I Question

• Do we really need to be on both Google+ and Facebook? Proponents of Google+ say that it serves a different purpose than Facebook and there’s room for both but I’m a skeptic. So far, when I check Google+ I also check Facebook right after.
• How will businesses use Google+? As of now there’s no brand/fan pages nor is a business product out yet. It’ll be interesting to see how they’ll differ from Facebook. I can see people adding brands under a Following circle where they can “subscribe” to updates.
• How Sparks develops for users? It’s a quiet subtle way for Google to push more content onto users. It’s less search and more discovery. Very Stumbleuponish.

I’ve been out of the country on vacation for the past 10 days so I missed the initial launch of Google Instant. I’ve only started to play around with it over the past few days and here are some instant initial thoughts.

1. Unnecessary – I’m not sure I gain much from seeing additional links and text description flash below the Google search box. In general I know what I’m searching for and I’m planning on typing in the entire search term. It seems more like white noise at this point but we’ll see over the next few weeks of use.
2. Unused - In general, I’m a shortcut power user and when I’m web browsing I’m no different. I often hit CTRL+K to go to the browsers search box to type in my search term. I rarely type in http://www.google.com and then enter in my search term so in most cases I wouldn’t even see Google Instant results.
3. Uninspiring - I like the spin they are trying to place on Google Instant — supposedly you can save 2-5 seconds per search — but in the end I don’t think anyone will care. Google is still the dominant search engine. It’s the first and only choice that I go to perform searches. Having “instant” results doesn’t make me like the engine any better and it probably won’t change the way I search. In the end its one big shoulder shrug of what’s the big deal.

It’s crazy to think that the future might be sneaking up faster than we think. Remember the time when people were scared to give their credit card information over the Internet? Concerns about identity theft, unfamiliarity with ssl pages, the need to see the product in person were typical excuses. Times have most certainly changed as e-commerce is booming and just apart of the way we live today.

M-Commerce or mobile commerce is definitely coming and soon will be “just apart of the way we live”. As smart phones and other portable devices like the iPad become more ubiquitous the amount of commerce will follow. For example, I was at the airport tonight waiting for my trip to New Zealand/Australia with my wife. We quickly realized that we probably should’ve make reservations for the spa/hot springs we had planned to visit in less than 48 hours. I quickly jumped onto my iPad, found their website, filled out a form, and submitted my credit card information. I got an email 10 minutes later with times to choose from. One email reply later and our reservation was confirmed. Pretty powerful stuff. In a matter of 15 minutes we were able to purchase a service in a country across the globe for a place we had never been that would be fulfilled in less than 48 hours. The amazing part is that we were sitting in terminal 43 of LAX…the walls of commerce are being broken down as I type.

The experience I had is probably not common today but it will be very very soon. I’m guessing in less than 2 years this will be commonplace. The speed at which things can be purchased is truly game changing. Mobile is definitely where business should start to think about optimizing. By optimization I see a few key areas:

- Simple easy to use websites or app – if I’m mobile I want to be able to find what I want quickly and fast. This probably means shorter forms, quick forms of payment, etc.
- Fast response – Let me know my purchase went through. Notify me quickly that there are problems. Reply to support and service questions instantly.
- Full selection – I should be able to purchase anything and everything that I could from a physical location or website.

Thoughts about m-commerce? Leave some comments…would love to discuss.

Announced yesterday was the all-new Apple TV at a $99. A much more attractive price point that actually made me pause, think, and research if this was something that I wanted to buy. A win for Apple (and others like Roku and Boxee) as I wasn’t even in the market to buy this type of product. Apple’s marketing machine has again placed a seed in my head to consider a product that I didn’t even know I possibly wanted (e.g., the iPad, which I currently now own).

I did a bit of digging last night and here’s a few pros and cons as it pertains to my current situation…

Pros

1. Netflix Streaming – With Blockbuster in bankruptcy, our favorite local video store might be kaput. It would be great to get access to movies without leaving the couch.
2. AirPlay Streaming – We have iPhones and an iPad in our household so it would be seamless to stream music and videos onto the player.
3. Apple Design & Functionality – We love our current Apple products. They are not without fault but in general they work really well and are used on a daily basis.

Cons

1. Lack of Content – The biggest problem with Apple TV is that I’m not sure if they’ll have enough good programming to purchase. For TV shows they only will have ABC and Fox shows. What about my Amazing Race and How I Met Your Mother?
2. DVR - Do I really need another product to buy more things to watch on TV? I already pay $100 for cable and the DVR function means that I always have something that I want to watch.
3. Price - Yes this was the main head turner but for $99 is my money better spent somewhere else? Similar streaming content devices cost cheaper or I could spend a bit more and get a Blu-Ray player with streaming capabilities. The other issue is that if I had the Apple TV would I be locked into spending even more money buying shows/movies? The answer is probably yes as I would need to justify the purchase.

The product has its initial temptation but I think I’ll end up in a wait and see approach. If more studios provide content to Apple for shows and movies then I might be more inclined to kill my cable service and try a product like the Apple TV.

I just flew to SJC and started to think about how technology could be used at airports to make flying more efficient. There are definitely implementation and privacy for some of these ideas but here they are:

1. An app/website that allows you to track where parking shuttles are. It would be great to know how long before the next one would arrive. Also the ability to check in at shuttle stops could help alert drivers which stops have passengers waiting and if they need to send more than one.

2. The ability to use iPhones and other smart phones as your boarding pass. Already being tested by airlines like Delta but something that definitely should be rolled out.

3. Geolocate/track passengers. Allow for gps tracking of passengers so you can track them to make sure they are in valid areas of the airport. Also you could use it for tracking passengers if they had checked in but aren’t at the gate and the flight is getting to leave.

4. Create a marketplace to easily trade seats. Have the ability at a kiosk or mobile app to post a price you’d be willing to trade your seat for. That way if you had an exit row seat, aisle seat etc. you could sell it for a profit if you didn’t value the seat as much as someone else. Airlines could facilitate the transaction and take a percentage for the move.

5. Offer limited free wifi on airlines to purchase content. Airlines could offer a closed system accessible by wifi to stream content to someones laptop, iPad, iPhone, etc. This could be a pay per use model to get new movies, games, ebooks, and more. You could easily change content since it’s all in digital format and you wouldn’t have to retrofit old seats with new screens.