I'm not a fan of Google's new look for GMail or Blogger. I use GMail on a daily basis, many times per day. I use Blogger enough, almost daily, to at least check if any new comments came up on this blog or to write up some draft ideas rumbling around in my head.

Both GMail and Blogger complain now when I log in using Firefox / Iceweasel 3.5, which is what ships with Debian Squeeze. They tell me my browser is out of date and that my experience won't work well. This is for a browser that's not that old and is still supported with security updates from Debian. GMail also reverts to the old school plain HTML version which isn't pretty and for some reason keyboard shortcuts and priority inbox are disabled (very annoyed at that).

I'm taking my email to IMAP, goodbye GMail web interface, and I've rolled back Blogger's new look to the older version. If I'm on someone else's computer or using my wife's iPhone, I'll deal with GMail's web access. The worst part of this is before the new GMail and Blogger interfaces went live, neither complained about using Firefox / Iceweasel 3.5 and everything worked as I liked.

I'm seriously considering taking my email business elsewhere, possibly to FastMail where I can avoid ads and get my own domain for a very reasonable price. For blogging, in the past I had tried Tumblr but wasn't impressed. I'm going to take a serious look at Posterous. I do all my blog editing in the HTML mode on Blogger anyway, losing some editing features isn't a concern.

I'd love to say goodbye to Google. It's looking like it will be easier every day. I don't think that's a good thing.

PS: Google AdWords, not worth it. So far, with thousands of ad impressions on my blog, I've make a nice $2.50 over 6 months. Not even enough that Google will pay me (gotta hit $10 for that). Don't blog for the money, blog for the reputation, skills, to help others, and because you want to improve your writing. Future post on that ;)

Comments

Jizzy Gillespie
And don't forget Google's "Buzz" in gmail, which went over like a fart in church and was quietly removed after virtually no one either used it or saw any reason to use it. Every time Google tries to be cool they end up looking more like Microsoft than Apple.
Andrew
Michael, thanks for your (kind?) words. Sadly, I've not had time, due to the holidays, to really investigate moving off Blogger or GMail any further. But it's definitely on my to-do list.
Michael Casher
Google does suck. Everything Google does sucks. They either have no clue or else they don't care what their users think. That's why their user forums suck, too. You'll get no help there anymore.

I used to display Google AdSense ads on my blogs until they sucked so bad I had to pull them all. The Ads for Content are almost uncontrollable and yet Google thinks we have control over them. Google AdSense ads are distasteful and even hideous. Google also "updated" its interface for AdSense users, too, making the process of controlling your ads even harder than before.

I've been blogging at Blogger since 2005 and I write ten blogs there but I'm just about ready to give it up. When Google took over Blogger it went steadily downhill.

Gmail sucks big time,too. I stayed with the old interface, knowing darn well that, if it's new at Google, it will absolutely suck. Just like Google Profiles. As soon as you get used to how it works, Google changes it and makes it worse.

By the way, I have to use Firefox to edit my Blogger posts in "Compose". The new interface at Blogger is so complicated and so cheesy looking, I can't get it to work for me. It makes you rethink the WordPress experience, which I used to think was a nightmare for bloggers.

Google now runs YouTube and YouTube now sucks big time. Especially YouTube's new, cheesy, generic look. Way to go, Google. You're rapidly ruining the Internet, website by website.

Picasa still works for me, despite the fact that Google now runs it. But, given Google's track record, it's only a matter of time before Picasa will suck as bad as Blogger, AdSense, Google Profiles and Gmail.

Sorry you're having a rough go of it with Blogger. It shouldn't be that way. Thanks for posting.

Published

26 November 2011