Super poop scoop
What’s so slow it blows?
If you said the Cap’n'Trade (C’n'T) bill, close. It’s Microsoft’s rechristened search engine, Piffle. I admit to distrusting for Microsoft, but only because their products are unusually defective.
Getting dressed recently, picked out a Searchbutton.com shirt. I installed that button on the big gt House web site years ago in return for a free shirt. (I am easily bribed.) Shortly after that, they began charging, so I found another free search engine, Google. Search programmes disappear, Google’s still here.
Yet, I give new offerings a shot even if, in Microsoft’s case, it’s the same thing renamed. (Can’t recall the previous name, they change so frequently.) I used the new, improved Microsoft Boob a few times without being impressed. One night, I searched for Ellen Shipley and Fefe Dobson, which netted pretty much the same results as a subsequent Google search. A cynic might say they Googled them and passed on the results. Might explain why Putz, or whatever Microsoft call it, was slower. It provided several sites with no useful information, or no information at all because they were gone. 404ed. So much for starting fresh to provide more timely results.
MS have wasted years trying to approach Google’s search success, mostly by renaming their inferior product. Microsoft concentrate on what they do best: branding. I’m sure they spent more on focus groups for the name than on product development. And that logo had to be expensive. 
The inertia establishing Internet Explorer (IE) as the most-used browser (MS would say “most popular”) has failed with web search. It’s not the Google name, which has become synonymous with searching. Google provide excellent information almost instantly, and their operation is constantly being refined. They don’t want to change their name. Searches like Yahoo!, Go!, Askme, Searchbutton and others could not cut it.
Google developed an approach that became popular without brand advertising. That has never been Microsoft’s strategy. The Redmond giant sees innovation elsewhere, tries to figure out how to grab some of that market. Developing a better product would be one way. Determine what Google lacks, improve on their process, but that would be difficult. Easier would be replicating Google with cosmetic differences and promoting the hell out of it. (Like IE vs Netscape. Remember that Netscape became popular as a huge advance in browsers, an area Microsoft had not explored, until coveting Netscape’s success. Then they spent one billion dollars to come up with an inferior browser they could not sell, so they gave it away. That’s why it’s so popular and you can’t spell LIE without IE.)
Advertising is one expensive route for promoting “free” searches, which Big Software are pursuing. Another method is to stick the new search engine, Poop I believe, on every Microsoft venue, like Hotmail. And now Yahoo! (Does anyone do Yahoo! searches anymore?) Soon Prig will be included in Windows, on the theory that buyers will probably not bother reloading Google, unless Pong proves as unreliable as other Microsoft applications.
The problem with Microsoft’s strategy is that most users have Google embedded in their browsers, even those bogged down in IE. When you’re accustomed to entering searches up there, you ignore those within web sites. When I saw Plop (or whatever it’s called) in my Hotmail, I tried it several times, comparing my results with Google. Little difference. Google placed more relevant results first. I found no reason to change, such as startling innovation, or any innovation. There were decidedly not more relevant results, as Microsoft claim in their advertising, which boasts that it’s a decision engine. Sure.
I dislike over-sized, overweight organisations, like Microsoft. It is not so much their shady and illegal business practices, I prefer products that deliver as promised. If you begin using Pimp, anticipate future security problems. That’s Microsoft’s area of expertise.
I’ve got no love for Google, who are huge, too, so when someone develops a better product, I’ll use it. For instance, if I could type in a question and get an answer rather than the appearances of the words on various sites, that would be an improvement. Ask.com (formerly AskJeeves) tried that unsuccessfully. The closest anyone has come to achieving this goal is Google. You can type in “define sarcoma” and get various definitions. Or you can type “define sarcosia” and get definitions along with the message, “Did you mean ‘Define sarcoma,’ you numbskull?” Useful if you want to know what sarcoma means, or how to spell it. Ever try finding a word’s spelling in a dictionary book? It’s tough without knowing the spelling. Sort of a catch 22.
We’ll see if how Blot fares. My prediction is that it will be less successful than their most recent operating system, which has overstayed its welcome, soon to be re-marketed as Windows 7, formerly Vista • the system so wonderful people pay $100 more to get XP instead. 
