We commented yesterday on Google's push to get more book content in its Google Print program. But there's more to the story if you consider the full range of new content initiatives that Google is experimenting with.
In Outsell's opinion, Google is demonstrating quintessential software-techie behavior with its flurry of recent announcements. While they are experimenting and rapid prototyping (a good thing), they are doing so with the orientation that software engineering solves all issues. That’s a blind spot common to tech-centric firms. As issues become more complex, they require an understanding of the user and how content serves professional tasks, a point of view that is largely MIA in many of these "e-DNA" companies. This is a big issue inside these firms and so far the search engine software techie-side is winning. They are doing great and awesome things but their strengths include and mask a blind spot. It's an example of the way any strength taken to an extreme becomes a weakness.
A fundamental problem here is that these folks are trying to solve the wrong problem—users don’t want to search, they want to “find”. If you start with that premise, many new and old vendors miss the mark. Google, like others, continues to broaden and improve “search”, but at the same time is making “find” more difficult. A Faustian bargain at best…..
