Still More Buzz About Google+

Image via WikipediaIt's been a few days now since I got access to Google+.  It remains the case that no one I know has received this access inspite of my adding them to Circles and sharing items with them in Streams.   Yesterday I found out that one person I know does know someone else that has access - that's the first and only such person I have heard of.

I don't understand what Google is doing.  Google+ is full of crickets and the occasional tumbleweed rolling past.  It's a lonely place.  The "nearby" section of the Stream on the mobile app has looked the same for 3 or 4 days.  This isn't a slow roll-out, this is a no-roll-out.

At any rate, here are a few more observations...

1) As far as I can tell there is absolutely no functional difference between Buzz and the Stream in Google+.  Are these two going to become one?  If that is the case, why isn't my Buzz history in the new Stream?  The interface on Google+ for Streams is quite a bit better than the interface for Buzz via gmail.

2) There is also no difference between "+1" and "Like".  Why do both of these exist?

3) At first I thought I would really dislike the mobile app uploading photos automatically, but I've changed my mind. It's handy and allows for some cool functionality (now if only my real camera could do that!).

4) Google+ confuses your browser if you have multiple logins and one is a Googel Apps or Enterprise account (which is not supported by Google+, likely because those accounts do not have profiles).

I like the look of Google+ and I think I like what it hints at for the feature integration of Google features.  I also think people will like it more than Facebook - but I also think that's not the point.  Google is up to something much more with this.  Google is making application use flow from the user identity, rather than having users pick and choice from unconnected facility. 

But it sure is dull in Google+ so far.