[development] google just pwned the brochureware site industry

[Laura Scott]

This comes down to the question of whether the disruptive technologies 
and economies of this new era can truly compete with the centralized 
megacorp models. We're seeing the big corporations having a big problem 
adapting to the fast microchanges in the long tail economy -- which is 
where most industries are heading.

Google may buy some time by offering a Google CMS, but I think 
ultimately the people who go for that are the people who are not 
considering Drupal now -- they WANT a hosted, managed, 
just-tell-me-what-to-do system. Drupal is on the opposite end of the 
paradigm, and appeals to different people who think differently than 
those who want the corporate-sponsored service.

Who uses AOL and who puts their internet services together themselves?

Who blogs on Blogger and who downloads Wordpress or MT (or Drupal!) and 
does it themselves?

What Google does certainly is worth noticing, given how huge they are. 
But I truly wonder at how a megacorp can compete in a marketplace that's 
all about personal empowerment, which is where we, in all our 
Drupal-related niches, live.

Laura


Steve Dondley wrote:
> This has been in the back of my mind for a couple of months.  What's
> to stop Google from hosting their own Drupal-like community software? 
> It's inevetible in my opinion.  Maybe not this year or next, but
> certainly within a decade.
>
> On 2/23/06, Moshe Weitzman <weitzman at tejasa.com> wrote:
>   
>> Adrian Rossouw wrote:
>>     
>>> http://pages.google.com
>>>
>>> Go play with the site editor, that's how our themes should work damnit.
>>>
>>> layouts / skins
>>>       
>> by site editor, do you mean the part link for 'change look'?
>>
>> and isn't our current theme system all about layouts/skins? what do you
>> mean exactly? layout=chameleon, skin=marvin
>>
>> this google tool is impressive as far as user experience goes. but
>> really, anyone who wants a site like this has far simpler tools to
>> employ than drupal? when google decides to offer a CMS, then we are in
>> for a fight. according to some rumors, this is forthcoming ...
>>
>>     
>
>
> --
> Dondley Communications
> http://www.dondleycommunications.com
>
> Communicate or Die: American Labor Unions and the Internet
> http://www.communicateordie.com
>   

-- 

*Laura Scott*, President

pingVision <http://www.pingv.com/> | interactive media design

4450 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 100

Boulder, CO 80303

303.415.2559

laura at pingv.com

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