Google

Since everyone else is putting up posts about Google, I figured I'd write something. Can't be left behind!
I'll include some links to pertinent blogs about Google. Lifehacker has a pretty coherent one, and "Harriet Jacobs" (the link is to a Gizmodo post, since the blog itself is protected) has some good reasons to be angry.
I, however, am not angry at Google. I don't have an android phone that hasn't received an update since it was released, I don't have any creepy stalker exes that use Google Buzz to find me, and, to be quite honest, this blog is working out pretty well for me. I like having things in one place. If I had an android phone, it would be even more convenient for mail and such.

NOTE: I don't actually have a smartphone. It's very sad, but since I can (and do) take my computer everywhere, I don't really need a smartphone. Want, yes. Everyone has to drive out in the boonies, where there are no internets, and I don't actually take my computer to the store with me. But! There is hope for me. I have T-Mobile, so I might end up with the famed Nexus One when my contract is up for renewal. Sure, T-Mobile's reception is less than optimal, but it's fairly cheap. Or it was when I first signed up. Don't be hating.

Back to Google. I have a plethora of gmail accounts (different accounts for different purposes, some dignified and one that a friend made for me) that all link back to my main email, a Picasa account for two of those (again, one for public view and one for a different online persona [I promise I'm not a creep. That did sound creepy.]), I think I have a Google Voice account somewhere, a Wave account because my friend sent me an invite, a few documents saved in Google Docs- handy when working with Windows users, since Word doesn't like talking to Pages documents- and a few blogs on Blogspot. I have a homepage with iGoogle, a Google Reader account, and I have Google Chrome as one of my browsers. Not my main browser, but it's not bad.
And Buzz. Buzz installed itself on my gmail account, although it did give me the option to opt out. I think. The day it came to me, I was a little fuzzy. But, since I could care less about social networking- none of my friends are that into it, and if they really want to tell me something, they text or IM me- I ignored it. Then I went on Gizmodo to kill some time and saw the post I linked to above, the one from the Harriet Jacobs' blog. While I disapprove of profanity in general, I couldn't really say anything about hers. I wouldn't let anyone under the age of 16 read it, but if anyone has a right to swear at Google, it's her.
Now that the righteous fury against Google is beginning to subside, the tongue-in-cheek posts are starting to come out. There's always a cycle, by the way. Fury, sarcasm, tongue-in-cheek, reason, jokes, apathy. It happens all the time with Apple and Microsoft. Now it's Google's turn to join the great companies. Here's a great tongue-in-cheek post from Gizmodo. (The Lifehacker link is a fair example of the reason stage. Hopefully this post is, too.)
The tongue-in-cheek phase is my favourite. I love watching the reasonable people put up amusing, intelligent posts only to be flamed relentlessly by fanboys and furious nay-sayers. Aside from the amusing interactions in the comments, the posts themselves are fun to read. Only with such catastrophes does such great wit show itself.
In summary, I think that Google will do alright, even with the Buzz fiasco, since they have a solid position as a search engine and email provider. Picasa isn't the greatest thing ever, but it's fine for casual photographers who want to share photos with friends and family without sending ten million attachment-loaded emails. The Chrome browser is decent, and the Chrome OS, if not game-changing, is promising. Google Docs is handy and even integrated right into my gmail account, hey! Buzz will almost inevitably fail, since Twitter and Facebook are so ingrained into society. "What's this "Buzz" thing?" "Oh, it's Google's facebook-y twitter thing." If it doesn't fail, it will probably live quietly on the side, used by the Google Faithful until the Next Great Thing comes out.

(By the way, almost all the non-sentence-starting words that I've capitalised are probably copyrighted, registered, or trademarked. But whatever.)