Sorry for lack of an update...end of the semester always ends with my blog suffering the most of anything I neglect.
So my week or so without Google went, suprisingly, fine. I found what I needed, it just took longer. What I expected was to not be able to find the things I needed. In reality, it just took longer to find the results I needed due to the poor design of the search results pages and the sheer number of ads and clutter to wade through.
That being said, Yahoo! does have a lot of cool stuff to offer. For example, I believe that their maps service is better than Google's. A main difference that I see in philosophy is that Yahoo! tries to advertise all its functionality in your face. Google, on the other hand, reveals its major services and leaves you to figure out the details of each -- either through exploration or documentation.
So whose approach is better? For an expert user like myself, the Google approach, definitely. For a novice user looking to get at a certain feature with little exploration, Yahoo! seems to be a better choice. What's annoying to me is most likely useful to them.
Check em out. Think Google Maps, but with a cool widget in the top right that helps you navigate coarsely even when you are zoomed in super-fine. It really helps you explore.
On the other hand, it also makes me sad that Yahoo! just seems to be following in the footsteps of Google on some fronts. The two look so similar at times, I have to do a double-take at the logo to see where I actually am.
My overall impression so far of the design of Yahoo! is "a cluttered Google." They have the nice and soft colored css boxes going on as well as a few css lines here and there...but then there's about five times as much information and imagery on a page. Not to mention there are *way* too many ads.
Keep it simple, guys.
Edit: Ok, I was a little quick to judge on Yahoo! Maps..it does have some cool stuff that makes it pretty useful. One cool thing is the ability to plan a route using waypoints which you can add and remove on the fly. Nice for going on a weekend trip to the country or something.
One thing that does need a little help though is the amount of "locations" they have. For example, if I search for "bowling" to find bowling alleys near me, it finds nothing and gives me totally random results that have nothing to do with bowling. Google maps, on the other hand, finds about 15 places.
In addition, Yahoo does seem to have a lot more actual *content.* I'm use to a search engine being just that, and it appears Yahoo is much more.
It's been years since I've gone a week or even a day since I haven't used Google. I think this holds true for most of the people I know as well. So as part of some sick practical joke on myself, and to truly appreciate that which is Google (maybe), I'm going to not use it for an entire week. Instead, I shall be using the likes of Yahoo! and MSN -- wish me luck.
What's the point? To figure out which of these is true:
1. Google is essential. I need it.
2. Google isn't essential, but it is better than any other search engine.
3. Google isn't all that. Other indexes are just as good...Google is just popular.
4. Google sucks, Yahoo! rulez.
What do I expect to find? Number 1, of course. I'll be back with the results.
(Note: I'm only abandoning Google for the week for searching. Being that I use gmail, I kind of want to check my mail still..)