googlewhore (noun):
1. (Internet slang) An ardent user of Google services.
So everybody who knows me, knows that I’m always anxiously awaiting the latest offering from Google. Gmail, Google desktop, Google Earth and all the rest, I’m always happy to try out a new service from that colorful company in Mountain View, California.
The latest in a long line of services that I’m trying out is Google Pages:
…a new product that makes creating your own web pages as easy as creating a document in a word processor. Google Page Creator is a free tool that lets you create web pages right in your browser and publish them to the web with one click. There’s no software to download and no web designer to hire. The pages you create are hosted on Google servers and are available…for the world to see.
As far as I can see (and I’ve only just started to mess with my first page), Googlepages are a simplified version of…oh, maybe Geocities. Google doesn’t allow you to do a whole lot of serious web-tinkering, but the templates are attractive, the layouts are functional and the wizards make it almost impossible to create a horrible, blinking, angry-fruit-salad webpage with looping midi-music that you can’t shut off squeaking some bad Muzak version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida while a gang of animated angels or butterflies follow your cursor all around the screen.
I’ve seen some bad Geocities webpages, can ya tell?
Googlepages, at first glance, seems perfect for a first time web designer looking to post a photo album or resume or maybe even a simple blog. Of course, your Googlepage is tied into your gmail (or Google) account and has all the same cool features you’ve come to expect from Google products (Auto-save draft, clean, single page design layout, a nice site manager)
Another great reason to have a gmail account (you have one, right?)
P.S. notes on some of the above:
- Googlepages still isn’t open to the general public, or even by invite, like Gmail. I signed up to be notified a couple months ago and got my account activated tonight. I don’t know when they plan to open it up to everybody.
- Yes, I am a GoogleWhore, but even I don’t use all of Google’s services. Google Desktop, for instance, just ain’t for me. But I did try it.
- You wanna see my Googlepage? Really? It’s pretty lame… well, OK
- I’ve actually seen the bad web page I described above. Although in fairness, it might not have been hosted by Geocities. See the kind of thing I mean here.
- You seriously don’t have a gmail account? email me