[tobtoh]

> I really appreciate their test-and-learn style of product releases.

I do to - but don't you feel that lately they are just releasing far too early? Take the Gmail redesign - opened up to beta, they took onboard the early feedback about too much whitespace and when the fully released the new design, we had a 'compact' option - to me, that is test and learn style done well.

But take the Gmail app - released into production and it's key feature doesn't work - how was this not picked up in basic testing? Plus it's getting near universal derision as being an underwhelming app. That doesn't seem like 'test and learn' style to me - that's more like sloppy work.

And Siegler lists a whole bunch of recent product launches that have fumbled not because they release new tech, but because Google made basic faults. One that affected me this week - the launch of Google+ for Google App users ... only to discover that it doesn't work with their for iOS/Android app - again, a basic fault.

I want Google to keep releasing in a 'test and learn' style, but I also want them to have some attention to detail and tighten up their work practices which appear to be slipping.

[MatthewPhillips]

Google Wave is hardly recent though. It's easy to cherry pick bad products from a company that releases gobs of them. I could point to GameCenter. Or Ping. Or MobileMe or iBooks.

[rkudeshi]

FWIW, I believe the 'compact' option was available even when they first announced the new design.