Does the average Joe really need to know what a browser is?

June 18, 2009 · Posted in Google, Questions, Technology · View Comments

“A team from Google interviewed dozens of people in Times Square the other day, asking a simple question: What’s a browser? This was in an effort to understand and improve the customer experience of Google’s own browser, called Chrome.

Turns out that over 90% of the people interviewed could not describe what a Web browser is.”

Watch the video

I don’t think any of my non-techie family or friends could answer this question. I’m not sure I could adequately if a microphone was put in my face while I was out shoe shopping (its hard to swtich from thinking about a stacked heel to properly defining browser) My parents use Firefox because I told them to, I don’t think they have any idea why.

But does it matter? I know nothing about how my car works, I have no idea what’s actually involved in making it go, other than I turn a key, shift gears and apply the brake. Does the average Joe need to know what a browser is or just how to get online? I’m sure a car enthusiastic will tell you my Saturn is not so hot, but I don’t care it works for me, it gets me from Point A to Point B. Isn’t that how most people feel about their browser? Some of us are browser enthusiast, some of us aren’t. If the average Joe only wants to get from Point A to Point B why does he need to know what a browser is?

Tags: browser, chrome, Google, Video

What do you think of Google Flu Trends?

November 12, 2008 · Posted in Google, Privacy · View Comments

I’ll admit it, I’m sucker for Google products – Reader, Gmail, Docs, Blogger, Chrome and I know on some level the dangers of that. I have lots of bookmarks in delicious about it. This morning while I was watching the news I heard mention of something new – Google Flu Trends. According the the site:

We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Of course, not every person who searches for “flu” is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries from each state and region are added together. We compared our query counts with data from a surveillance system managed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and discovered that some search queries tend to be popular exactly when flu season is happening. By counting how often we see these search queries, we can estimate how much flu is circulating in various regions of the United States.

I’m not certain why this disturbs me, I think I want to know how Google knows where I am when I search. If I go into a computer in my library and do a Goolge search for Flu how do they know I’m in Jefferson City? How? I looked in the FAQ and How Does This Work section and don’t see it. I’m sure someone will leave a comment and let me know. But I’m not sure that will make my unease go away. Think of everything else they *could* track.