So I fired up Google Earth Plus today to see if any new cities have been imaged. I was greeted by this dialog:

I am not sure where to begin. There is so much wrong with this dialog from a usability standpoint that I am amazed it made it into the build:

1) Language: "The version of Google Earth Plus you are running needs to be upgraded now." Yeah, who says? What klutz penned this little gem. Since when do developers get to demand upgrades. Sad.

2) Download: "Please download the new installer from http://www.keyholde.com/downloads/GoogleEarthPlus.exe." OK, 10 pts. to whoever can spot the usability snafu here. Give up? Hello...this is the web...don't give me a URL...give me a link or a button.

3) Feedback: "If you have any trouble with the upgrade or have beta feedback, please send it to kh_beta@google.com" Indeed I will send a link to this blog entry. Same deal...world wide web and all...where's the link or button

4) Sign up!: Ouch! This is the saddest thing I see over and over again. I get emails/snail mail from companies wanting me to buy their product or sign up for their service. Get with the program, ye people of the idiot brigade. I am already a customer. If you can index the web and all the library content of the world, how difficult is it for you to figure out that I am a paying subscriber. Sad. Sad. Sad.

5) Overall: Someone at Google has not been alert. For at least the past 4-5 years, even the humblest of shareware apps have the ability to automatically fetch updates on-demand and usually unattended. Get with the program guys.

So, in typical fashion, what was to have been a 10-min interlude, turned out into a negative customer experience.

OK, now five minutes later, the download and update are done, and guess what...you got it...the stupid program wants me to restart my computer.

Earth to Google -- Any intelligent life there that understands how to write good software? I was quite excited about Google Earth initially, but this kind of crap is a serious turn-off.

Word on the street is that Google is going to have an online payment service. Since the company incorporated Google Payment Corp. in Delaware, there is a good chance this is not a wild rumor. I, for one, welcome a competitor to PayPal. Although I have been a customer since inception, I am getting a little tired of their strong-arm tactics. Many PayPal users (myself included) have had to battle with the company for everything from arbitrary limitations on accounts to dealing with clueless customer service people.

Although PayPal does a good job of customer acquisition and developer support, it has grown too fast and in the process has forgotten that it exists because of its customers. Every occasion that I have been on the phone with PayPal customer service, I have felt less valued as a customer.

Bring it on Google -- I'm ready to switch.

Just days after I blogged about RSS being better for newsletters, I am pleased to note that Microsoft has announced broad support and integration of RSS in Longhorn. Feels good to know I am on the right track.

Hmmm...maybe one size smaller...

Everytime I happen to drive (rarely these days since I use ZipCar), I inevitably have to park in a garage somewhere. And each time I wonder why no one has implemented what to me is a trivially simple solution to finding a parking spot in parking garages, especially those at airports. Here's my idea. If you decide to implement it, send me a million dollars. If you have already implemented it, then

Each parking spot in a garage has an RFID transmitter and receiver oriented in such a way that when a vehicle is parked in the spot, the receiver cannot get the signal. (I guess it doesn't have to be RFID...even a line-of-sight laser would work.) A receiver that is getting a signal is considered ON...all others are OFF.

Each receiver is networked to the parking garage's computer. The computer runs a program that sorts parking spots by proximity to elevators/exits. Only receivers that are ON are included by the program.

When a car pulls into the parking lot, the program prints out a ticket containing the location number (eg. B-4) of the first spot in the list (i.e. the first available spot that is nearest to the elevator/exit). The driver places the ticket on the dashboard so it is visible from the outside, drives to the spot and parks (the spot will be vacant). If he/she parks in a spot that's different from what's on the ticket, a hefty fine is levied (easy to track because the location of the ticket can be used to make this determination).

This is a simple solution, requires no driving around endlessly looking for a spot and optimizes traffic patterns in the garage i.e. fewer fender benders.