Technology

Did Google weigh The Facebook "Beacon" debacle in its calculus for launching Google Buzz?

The release of Google Buzz has been met with sharp attention to Google's respect for its users' privacy and, to date, at least one class action lawsuit alleging Google violated user privacy.

Now granted, Google jumped quickly to remedy these privacy "oversights" that would have allowed users to see other users' contacts as determined through some formula based on who users email, but is it really possible that Google launched Google Buzz oblivious to these "potential" privacy breaches/invasions or did it willfully sacrifice the fiduciary bond with an handful of its users to make a big splash?

Apple Tablet predictions and speculation...everybody's got 'em. So why not me, so I can be wrong on the record just like everyone else.

Apple has this magical ability to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary and to turn the legitimately remarkable into untouchably awesome.

However, when you break things down most of what Apple excels at is great user experience thrown on top of something that is really not all that special.

The iPhone, for example, is shrewdly misnamed, as the fact it is a phone is actually one of its least useful, novel or exciting features.

Apple redefined mobile computing and mobile internet connectivity and called it a phone to just throw everyone off the scent and send them off to make fancy phones versus solid and competitive mobile devices.