Yahoo for Yahoo

Today I was IM'ing with a friend on Yahoo. I admit, I really only use it for a "trash" account, and for IMs. Otherwise, I don't typically pay much attention to the features.

Truth is, Yahoo has become what most of these services aim to be: a portal. It's a service that aims (no pun intended) to have you use it as your gateway experience of the internet.

As I was IM'ing, and waiting for my friend to respond, I looked down in the lower left of my screen. Usually, it's just wallpaper, and I'm not really paying attention to what's there. Today for some reason I noted that there was a collection of apps available that were actually pretty impressive: attach large files (who knew? I've been going to a large-file handler website); automatic organizer (this is interesting: turning on this app will allow it to organize the emails in your inbox - ostensibly "organizing" out the one not from your friends); a calender; a photo editor; evite (you're probably familiar with this one if you're under 40 - it's an online invitation system that allows you to invite your friends to join you for everything from a party at your house to a meetup at the local pub); a link to Flikr (a photo sharing website); mydrive (this app lets you basically upload all your critical files and have access to them anywhere - along the lines of Google Docs, but unlike Google Docs, you will still have to open your files on your local computer via the appropriate software); My Photos (another option for photo sharing); a link to PayPal, and yet another invitation system - pingg.

There's no doubt that Google has changed the way everybody thinks about the Internet.

It's true, the concept of "portals" predates the Google revolution. Everybody had the brilliant idea that if they created a best "desktop" universe when a user logged on, they'd use that desktop for all their online activities. It was a great idea, and remains a great idea - but Google made it a lot simpler, and a lot better, by not mucking it up.

 Don't get me wrong - I think everything Google does is self-serving. Google wants you to use Google as your home page; use iGoogle (a customizable portal); use Google Docs for file sharing and storage; shop via Froogle, and so forth. But Google is smart enough to stress the simplicity and functionality of everything it does so that the user experience is one of, "Hey, that worked. I got my job done and it was easy."

That's what brings you back. And oh, by the way, yeah, there are some very relevant ads along the side of the interface (unlike, I'm sad to say, Yahoo, which muddies up its interface with very intrusive, loud (as in, colorful and often moving) ads that actually get in the way of your experience).

Nevertheless, I was impressed with the collection of useful apps that Yahoo offers to users. I won't be making it my default portal any time soon (I'm an iGoogle girl) - but I wouldn't say "don't bother," either! And certainly, if Yahoo is your main email service, why not go for the full experience?

Comments

Popular Posts