A father discusses Google Buzz with his 5 month old son
- Son: Whatchya doin' Dad?
- Dad: Playing around with Google Buzz.
- Son: What the heck is Google Buzz?
- Dad: It's a new feature of Gmail that allows you to share status updates, photos, and links, with people without leaving your Gmail inbox.
- Son: Don't you already do that with Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr?
- Dad: Well...yeah...
- Son: So you're saying this is just another way for you to ignore me?
- Dad: I'm not ignoring you. All I ever do is talk about you. I write about you on Tumblr, post pictures of you on Facebook, and post updates about you on Twitter.
- Son: Then why do you need Google Buzz?
- Dad: Well, no one NEEDS any of this stuff. But it's cool because it does the same thing Facebook does, but I don't have to go to another website to do it.
- Son: What's so great about that?
- Dad: Well, imagine this. I'm checking my email. I pretty much have my email open all day long...
- Son: ...Uh, yeah. You've got issues...
- Dad: ...Whatever. So I'm in my Gmail when I get a new message. It's a Facebook notification telling me your Aunt Ashley has sent me a message in Facebook. The thing is, it doesn't tell me what the message is. I have to open a new webpage and log in to my Facebook so that I can respond to her message. And maybe that's not so bad if it's a message from someone I don't know very well. But this is my sister, and she knows my email address. It'd be really nice if I didn't have to leave my Gmail in order to send my sister an email.
- Son: Sounds like the issue is with your sister.
- Dad: Yeah...she also sends text messages to my email...so...I guess you're sort of right.
- Son: Of course I'm right. So does Google Buzz connect with your Facebook and Twitter so you can send status updates to those sites from the comfort of your own Gmail inbox?
- Dad: Not currently.
- Son: What? Huh? How STUPID! What a waste!
- Dad: Geez. Calm down. You sound like everyone else.
- Son: Well c'mon! Why doesn't it do those things?
- Dad: First of all, I'm sure it will do all that and more sometime soon. If Google doesn't add that functionality then someone else will create an app that does it.
- Son: They should have done it right away!
- Dad: (sigh)...and second of all you're going about this backwards.
- Son: How so?
- Dad: You can't look at a service or piece of technology and criticize it for not doing all the many different things that you want it to do.
- Son: Why not? I'm the consumer!
- Dad: Okay...think of it this way. Google Buzz is a tool.
- Son: You're a tool.
- Dad: Let me finish. Google Buzz is a tool. Imagine I invented the hammer.
- Son: Ha! You barely know how to use a hammer.
- Dad: That's why we're imagining. Now imagine I invented the hammer, and I showed it to you. I told you it is LIKE other tools you have. And this tool will help you put nails into wood.
- Son: "Put nails into wood?"
- Dad: It's hard to not say "hammer" when talking about what a hammer does. Anyway, I tell you what it does, and then you look at it and say, "Does it turn screws? Does it have a camera built into it?"
- Son: Two things I think hammers should definitely do...
- Dad: ...and then I told you it doesn't do those things because that's not what it is. It's a hammer, not a screw driver or a camera.
- Son: But those are the features I want!
- Dad: But you see, you can't look at a product and criticize it for not having crazy features that you are hoping for. The point of technology is that it makes our lives easier. So when something new comes around you have look at what it can do for you, and see how that fits into your life and can make life easier for you.
- Son: BUT I WANT A HAMMER WITH A CAMERA IN IT!!! I'd call it the Hammera.
- Dad: Then, if that new product doesn't offer something that improves your life you don't need to use it.
- Son: BUT NOW I'M SO MAD THAT YOUR HAMMER DOESN'T HAVE A CAMERA! AND 3G!!!
- Dad: Okay, it's time for your nap.















