I tried to install the Google toolbar to my “Google” Chrome browser and got this most unexpected error message.
Google toolbar requires Firefox 2.0 or later.
Would you like to download the latest version of Firefox?
Not only is it idiotic that Google’s toolbar doesn’t work on its very own Google Chrome browser, but it even promotes the Firefox browser and even offers to take you there! To top off this experience of Epic Fail, Google has had over 3 years to make their toolbar work with its Chrome browser and still has not made it happen. It’s rather mindboggling when you consider all of the resources they have in manpower and money.
Yes, they have many more important bugs to fix and features to add (and promising startups to acquire and retire) but this is a perfect example of what happens when a cutting edge organization gets big and fat. They have gotten sloppy and they’ve lost their focus. It sure reminds me of another giant search engine outfit that become huge and stupid and lost their way (Yahoo).
Look, I like a lot of Google services (Gmail, Tasks, search is still good, etc.) but they have also suffered the same problems that have plagued other giants such as IBM and Microsoft. Their development teams have become separate silos of services instead of working together to build products that work better together. Remember how Microsoft Outlook had nothing to do with Microsoft Outlook Express? Google needs to tear down their walls, literally, and introduce their development teams. I highly recommend that they all have a movie night and watch the wonderful documentary “The Pixar Story” which is a blueprint on how to work as a team…and how to get a group of talented people to create beautiful things together. It’s currently streaming on Netflix right now.
While I’m bashing Google, I’d like to also suggest a few other things, in case anyone from Google is listening. They should start by rebuilding the atrocious address book in gmail by examining the gorgeous work done by the xobni programmers who’ve built a lovely plugin called Xobni for gmail. They should also do much more with Google Profiles by building a social network around that. Also needed is a Project management system. Their Google Tasks is excellent but it also has been trumped by several other small startups. They can merge tasks with google docs and gmail and its new Google Projects service and add the new social network from Google Profiles and then we would have a serious Facebook killer.