My Google + comment got erased :(

So I'll try to my best to recreate it here. Basically, I was chuckling to myself that I have loads of Google + invites in my inbox, yet I haven't managed to find the time to sign up yet. I guess you want what you can't have...and in this case I have it.

So instead of spending time exploring the UI of Google +, I read what other users have been saying about the new platform. Responses have been pretty harsh, insinuating that Google is simply redoing what other predecessors have already done, like Twitter and Facebook. But, I think Google deserves a bit more credit.

In my opinion, FB still has some serious UI issues. And, it can be really annoying to use multiple different services to stay social. To me, Google + is just the 2012 version of iGoogle, which was one of the first concepts out there for a personal dashboard, but now with group capabilities, and Google has simply done only what any company can do in such a saturated market, and that is make the products out there just simply better. In this sense, I think Google has done a good job of re-prioritizing features that current users value most, like group video chatting, something as far as I know, FB does not even offer (maybe I'm just out of the loop).

I mean, in this day and age, what is it that we internet abusers value? easier UIs. We take the abilities totally for granted. It's HOW we can use them that we value most, and Google + may have pushed that ball forward. Will it have a lasting impact? probably not. Service aggregators will simply add Google + to their menu of options, and so the wheel will go round and round.

The more important question, I think, and what I believe the Google + team was thinking, is how can we get customers to invest so much time in setting up shop with one service, that it becomes nearly impossible to switch. Google + isn't something you just dabble with, it's designed to be your homebase.

And finally, while I am reading all this talk on Google's impact on FB, I've not heard anything about how the partnership with Android could affect iPhone market share. I personally think it could have a significant impact.