Google vs California – do we fear change or just like what we’ve got?
An article in the LA Times talks about how Google is accusing the State of California of ‘rigging’ the choice of a replacement email system for the State.
In brief Arnie’s government is going to replace the hundreds of current email systems in use across the State with one, centralised system which everyone will use. The rationale is simple of course, one system = less costs.
But Google aren’t too happy with the bidding process as they claim their platform has been excluded based on unfair selection criteria – criteria which they were unable to either meet or change. This, you might say, is fair enough surely? The criteria are there to make sure that the system chosen meets the requirements of the organisation(s) and the users, no?
Well apparently not. Google’s position is that the requireemnts are based on the current email functionality which happens to be Exchange/Outlook and that, as such, newer and different approaches are being unfairly shut out.
I’m torn over this one, I have to admit. Part of me hates the attitude of “That’s the ways it’s always been, so that’s the way it should stay” but there’s also a strong element of “If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it”. Google are taking a pounding at the moment for the delays in delivering their solution into the City of LA. The LAPD have some strict data proection requirements which are causing some ‘issues’. But there’s one thing for sure… they’ll learn from that and be better prepared next time around.
On a purely personal note, I don’t like the GMail web interface at all. Yes I’ve become accustomed to the “Outlook” way of doing things, but as a Mac user I’m also very happy with the Mail.app and use Entourage (gasp) on an daily basis too. Outlook, both locally and as a web application, is a compelling application. It’s certainly got some bloat and some features I never use but it does do email pretty well. GMail is quirky and while some love it, its quirkiness still presents a barrier to adoption.
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