Sunday, September 17, 2006

Google and Blogger: Three Legged Race

And not a pretty one.

First, we're told to upgrade to Blogger 2. Cool new features, right? Okay.

Except anyone with a Blogger 1 account can't comment any more.

Now? If you have a Blogger 2 account, you can't comment on Blogger 1 blogs. And you can't change your account BACK.

Okay, pretty bad.

Next step?

They merged my Google acount with my Blogger account.

Didn't ask me, didn't warn me, no options. Just a "we merged 'em! Fuck you!"

Now, in my case, this did no harm. But some people wouldn't like it. People with multiple Blogger accounts, or people who want to keep their blogger account separate from their Google account because of, I dunno, questionable blog content, or a natural instinct that centralizing data robs them of valuable anonymity.

This is the first time I've seen Google treat their audience with such a callous disregard, and their product incorporation with such half-assed glitchy releases. Frankly, although it seems like over-reacting, it sets off little alarm bells in my head.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wrote up a response to this twice, but the beta version of Blogger you're working with (I don't know why- it's a beta!) wouldn't let me post and lost what I'd written. Let's see if this shorter comment will work.

Unknown said...

Ick. Sounds like it's time to remind google of their motto again.

Unknown said...

Oddly, key chose my first name rather than my login to identify me here - I signed in under my Google account, but I don't use Blogger. So they appear to be confused - or just not giving me any options. More grist for the complain mill.

Patrick said...

I've lost over a dozen comments in the past month, its been extremely frustrating.

But you have to consider that information networks, particularly when fueled by buisinesses, will naturally tend to consolidate. If you want to evade the mark of the anti-christ (or the anit-krishna, or the anti-MLK, whatever flavor you prefer) you gotta adapt with new counter-measures.

Craig Perko said...

The first part of your comment I agree with. The last part, I would remind you that I don't give flying squirrel piss about religious or pseudo-religious metaphors.

My version wouldn't be "anti-Krishna" or any other thing. It would be "anti-science" or "anti-logic", and that would make precisely NO sense in this context.

I don't prefer a variant. I prefer no variants. I prefer to have that kind of idiocy buried, silent, and decomposing somewhere far away from my blog.

Patrick said...

Uh, sorry to offend your devout atheism. What I mean by the "anti-christ" is a privacy shredding hegemonious government of any kind. I happened to chat with some really whacky eschatological christians this weekend and I took poetic liscence. It ain't ignorant if its self aware, its just playful. :>)

Craig Perko said...

Those really aren't equivalent.

I don't have nearly as much of a problem with people who are simply religious, but people who actually believe that such-and-such is the antichrist always turn out to be nutballs. So, I don't converse with people who talk like that, any more than I would talk with someone who insists I call him "sir nakedpants".

Anyhow, on topic, did anyone else notice that the word verification is no longer a tab from the comment window? Now it jumps to the accessable icon instead. Handy for the 0.1% of the population of commenters who are blind, I suppose. Sucks for the rest of us.