My Top 13 or 14 Google Gripes

Open Letter to Nathan Weinberg of Inside Google from a regular old Google Power User Anonymous Commenter Pal:

Hi Nathan,

You don't know me, but I read your blog every day, usually spotting them on my customized Google Webclips. You may ask why this open letter is to you and not The Man. Well, it's because I started writing you an email to ask you for your Linked-In and then I realized I had a lot more to tell you, to vent, to rant, and why the hell not do it in an open letter?

First, Google is the best. So this is to say the other competitors really suck. And these are just gripes of the best one, to get better.

Second, just wanted to let you know that of all the Google Insider blogs I think yours is top on my list. I don't know about you, but I've been applying for jobs at Google for years and don't even come close to an interview - a few times I got an instant rejection. Of course, I know from reading this story yesterday (Thanks Slashdot) Googlebots probably screen all applicants by doing web crawls for that person's name to find out if they're crazy or sick in the head or in my case do random acts of open letters about My Own Personal Google Gripes... but because of my passion around Google and the fact that everyone I know asks why the @##$@#$ don't I work there (I work for another major tech company that I also love, but who beats Google, man?), I figured I might as well keep trying, or start my own startup to topple them (ahem, yes I smoke crack).

I just tried applying for another job in Google communications (a position that I feel I am qualified for because of my passion for Google/ former experience, blah blah) but I don't think they're going to even get back to me - read: DIS. Afterall, I live in Portland, and LOVE it here. And won't move. And I'm sure they won't let me work from home. The other hope is that they need someone to work at their new Dalles facility doing some sort of crisis management there. Anyway...

Senator Weinberg, here are my gripes about Google. I think I've already started the first gripe above. Here are the more geeky ones below. I'm very curious if others have these as well.

(Overall gripe is lack of integration)

1. Custom Clips/Feed personal Integration There's no integration between gmail webclips, google/ig, and news.google.com. All of these should be integrated so you don't have to edit each individually andyou're getting the same personalized/recommended/requested content whereveryou go in the google landscape.
2. Google Reader sucks -I also have never been able to really use the Google Reader. What is it? Whouses it? Why should I care?
3. Blog Search sucks-Why does the Blog search tool suck so much? I find user-generated content the most important online, and yet this tool still sucks.
4. Froogle sucks - I have never found a use for Froogle. I have tried it repeatedly. It's completelyuselessWhy doesn't Calendar synch with my Treo? That is about the dumbest thing ever.
5. Google Calendar Synch Sucks-Seems like such a simple fix. I remember Yahoo! used to be able (or maybe still does)synch.
6. Googletalk Notifications Sucks--When in Googletalk client AND in Gmail you get TWO notifications that you've gota new IM chat message in the bottom right corner. you should only get one and itshould be INTEGRATED, and most likely the client should be default, so when youclick on the bottom right alert the client window pops up. Right now nothing happens,you just have to actually close the little X box in the top right. Whuhh??
7. Google Talk /AOL AIM Integration -- uhh, where the hell is this? I've been waiting for this since the big commitment.
   
8. Google Groups -- OK, I'm a HUGE fan of google groups.
9. Integrated Search Results---hello, where is this? All we have is Google webpage search, blog search, book search, etc. Shouldn't there be a PageRank system for EVERYTHING including your own desktop? Duh.
10. Picassa sucks - Ok, I've tried this several times, but I always go back to Flickr. Probably because of the same reason of #9 above -- there is no integration that I can tell.
11. Orkut sucks -- Again, a lost opportunity to connect people together. How could the most technologically savvy company not get this right? Why people still worship the Cold Fusion -based Myspace? This was a big missed opportunity. What Google should have done is bought Myspace. Chump change, my friend. Now they're integrating Myspace with their ad stuff.
12. User reviews/Rating system sucks- lacking/not integrated - everything should have star rating. Duh. And all integrated. All I see is this on a few places, such as Froogle, Google Groups, etc. But it should be EVERYWHERE.
    
13. Google Page sucks - This was the most exciting new service because I don't like HTML, am not a developer, and have a lot of websites I want to instantly create. So now I've tried it 3 times, and am totally clueless on how to get started. I told all my family that this was their chance to join the web force, and when I tried it myself I was lost instantly. Sorry, try again. Buzz was beyond reality

Thanks -- The Newscyclist