Teaching Ballmer
by Volker Weber
He sought feedback from the crowd of IT pros, many of whom have dedicated their careers to becoming expert in Microsoft's products, on which Internet search engine they use.
"How many of you use Live Search as your default?" Ballmer asked. A smattering of hands went up. Tepid applause.
"How many of you use Yahoo search as your default?" Far fewer hands went up and the room was relative quiet, until it filled with laughter. Ballmer, trying again, louder this time, "How many of you use Yahoo search as your default?"The same response. "Wow, we offered 31 bucks a share," he said, to more laughter.
"How many of you use Google as your default?" Ballmer asked. The vast majority in the audience raised their hands, cheering and hooting. Ballmer looked around. Smiled. Scratched his cheek. Rubbed his face with his hand.
I have only seen two kinds of people using Live Search:
- Microsoft MVPs, Microsoft employees, and evangelists
- Those unable to find Google.
[via Isotopp]
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i only go to live search when i cant find something on google , but the result is the same if its not on google its not anywhere.
and i would think i fall into catagory 1 of the two listed.
live search is so far off its not even funny.
even searching for a kb article is easier on google than on support.microsoft.com
"even searching for a kb article is easier on google than on support.microsoft.com"
I'm glad and saddened that I'm not the only one that has that kind of experience.
To be fair, I find things on IBM's site through Google easier than I find them from IBM's site too. But at least IBM doesn't seem to want to replace Google.
On the other hand, maps.live.com convinced me the other day when maps.google.com was horribly slow. Good search results, very decent interface. I can only recommend it. Of course, in the case more than 2000 people use it, performance may also degrade...
For web, I can't fathom using anything other than Google.
HOWEVER - I use LiveSearch on my mobile device for navigation with GPS. It's the only free software that does turn by turn routing (and beeps when turns are coming up), and automatic re-routing. I've used them both extensively, Google Maps doesn't even come close to the functionality of LiveSearch Navigation.
The most basic problem with Live Search is its name! This seems to be a common thread with MS. They don't come up with names, but rather long winded descriptions as the product name. You can hardly convert the name 'Live Search' into a verb, which is a critical requirement for mass adoption.
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