Great mysteries of our time.

[ffutures]

WTF don't Google include a "look exactly like the old gmail" theme in their new gmail themes? And why are they so slow and ugly?

I'm thinking in terms of starting to use the basic HTML version if they don't make some real improvements or let people continue to use the old version.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

There does now seem to be a switch back to the old way button. But it says 'temporarily'.

Though I imagine if enough people switch back, Google might get the message that things that aren't broken don't need to be fixed.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

The trouble with that is that there will be a lot of people who go "Hey, it's new!" without bothering to think "Hey, it's crap!" when it runs at about half the speed of the old version.

My guess is that it works better with Google+ than the old one, and actually using it for mail has suddenly dropped to low priority.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

From what I've read and experienced, Google+ is hitting problems. Big rush of users, then everybody slowly migrated back to facebook because that was where all of their friends are.

Apart from googlemail, I'm wondering if any of Googles other big experiments have been successes...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Maps and google earth do well, I think.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, of course. I do find the maps invaluable when trying to find new places. And the streetview is fantastic, because then I can actually look at the place I'm trying to find.