Categories
Stuff I Like

Fanboi

glogoNot sure when it happened. It wasn’t love at first sight. I think it was gradual. But I’m slowly realizing that I’m a Google fanboi. It started with Search, then with a simple Gmail invite. Then Google Calendar, Reader. Now, lately Google Voice. And soon Google Wave. I don’t know how they do it, yet they manage to complicate my life in the most user friendly ways possible. Introducing applications I never knew I needed. And on top of that, claiming they’re not evil, even though we’re never quite sure what it is they do with all our data. Quite frankly, I almost don’t care because I’m so severely blinded by their awesomeness. They could be building an Orwellian empire, or secretly plotting elaborate extortion schemes based on my web searches. But being the fanboi my 12 step program finally lets me admit to, I’m certain my data is only used for good purposes. Like, solving world hunger or classes on performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitationon on kittens. Either way, we should all be thankful Google exists. Because they sure can’t stop, given that all those things I never really needed in the first place are now interwoven into the very fabric of my being.

Now, excuse me as I turn to the giant G on my wall and chant for a bit before going to bed.

4 replies on “Fanboi”

Oh, don’t get me started on GV. It’s the best thing that happnend to humanity since slice bread was invented. In short, it’s like Gmail for your phone. You get a phone number (but later this year you will be able to transfer your old number to GV to seamlessly integrate it and so no one will even notice you’re using it) and you can set up rules based on call lists where your calls should go. If you get phone spammed, you can ban a specific number and that number will from then on just hear a “this phone has been disconnected message”. You can have personalized outgoing messages based on who’s calling (person or group). It is free domestically and has cheap skype-like rates for international calls. It transcribes your voice mail (english only), free SMS, and probably many more features I’m forgetting about.

It is still invite only, but since being the bandwagon jumper that I am, I joined Grand Central (what it used to be called before Google bought it) over a year ago and do have an account. The wife does not have one yet, but hopefully soon so she can sing the praises as well.

And of course, it’s not available to you socialists overseas. Only us freedom-lovin’ Americans.

Well chanchan, I would, but I don’t have any invites. The best you can do is to go to http://voice.google.com/ and put your email address in and hope they send you an invite in the future. Also, the GV app isn’t available for the iPhone, due to Apple rejecting it from the app store (one of the reasons I’m not a fan of the iPhone as I have previously said in one of my posts). I’m sure it’ll be available on the iPhone eventually but right now there’s a lot of controversy about why Apple hasn’t allowed it in the app store. But, if you had an Android phone, it would work like magic 😉

Comments are closed.