After using Google+ (connect with me here) for a little while, and with invites to the social network now being available, it will be interesting seeing the network grow over the next few weeks. Facebook didn’t have growing pains like Google is having to deal with back in their first weeks of launching in 2004. That should say something of the future success of the network. I thought I’d just state a few VERY simple and obvious reasons that I think Google+ will succeed without a doubt. They might be helpful, they might be annoyingly simple. But I believe they are why Facebook will most likely be left behind.

Reason #1 – SEARCH
The world searches using Google. The word search is often replaced by the word Google, that’s how much the service is used. Content-heavy websites (CNN for example) utilize Google Search on their own websites, allowing you to search the site for specific keywords or phrases. There just is no other search engine that competes.

Reason #2 – EMAIL
Most of the world uses Google’s Gmail services to send and receive email messages, and the majority of those people have the important info (phone, address, email, URL, etc.) stored as a Gmail Contact…….it’s their 21st century Rolodex.

Reason #3 – MAPS
When people need directions these days, or want to find a business, they’ll pull up Google Maps on their computer or smartphone. We’ve seen Facebook do a nice job with organizations – I know my employer counts on its Facebook page for communication as much or more than our website. Imagine if Facebook would have started off out of the blocks with Maps and business listings already stored like Google has. I think there’s a bright future for businesses that are listed on Google, and I’m sure we’ll see parts of that rolled out in the coming weeks.

It’s just this simple……Google is where the internet lives for the three necessities listed above, not on Facebook. If you’re using other services for any of these necessities, you should probably think about switching. So why wouldn’t you want to interact with your friends on a network that is tied to the same services they’re using for the necessities? From how it’s looking, it’s much easier for a social network to get going when they have a foundation and respect like Google does. It might seem impossible, but I don’t think it will take them 7 years to get to 750 million users (Facebook stat from last week) when they’ll likely top 10 million already this weekend.

If you’re not on the network yet, feel free to contact me using the email address you’d like to receive the invite with. You’ll be glad you did.

Were these reasons too simple? Do they make sense? Are there other Google services you think are solid enough for people to consider using?

If you don’t own a smartphone, this post might not interest you. If you do, you should head over to Square and pick up one of their free smartphone credit card readers for free. Or if you’re an Apple fan and are in one of their stores, you can now pick one up for $9.95. Sounds like a scam, right? Lots of people are confused / upset with Apple over this, but they didn’t take the time to read further on the product page and realize that you actually get a $10 credit with the purchase of the reader (you earn a nickel by making the purchase).

I was able to finally put my reader to use this past week, selling crafts with my wife and kids – raising money to return to Cambodia (and take our 3 girls). The transaction went through without a hitch. I read further (after being curious about how it worked) and it appears that the microphone picks up the audio, sends it through the processors and then is routed to Square’s software application on the device (encrypted and no data is stored locally).

So, here’s my question. Is your church going to be the first to get rid of their tithing baskets and start accepting gifts via smartphones (with Square reader attached)? Dave Ramsey might not think this is a great idea, but the number of families who don’t carry cash are growing almost as fast as the families cancelling their cable / satellite and going with web-based or over-the-air digital television.

Maybe churches could have a few of the devices available in their lobby for accepting tithing before or after the service. Would this kind of tithing work for you / your church?

EDIT: After reading through the comments, I am now curious if Square will find a way for the reader to work with apps of NPO’s or other charities? Wouldn’t it be great to open up the site / app of an organization you’d like to make a donation and donate using the reader?

After picking up the HTC Thunderbolt yesterday morning, I just wanted to say thanks to the team (in the video below) that delivered such a nice phone!

Guessing you’ve seen the news this week, that Mark Zuckerberg (CEO / creator of Facebook) won TIME magazine’s Person of the Year for 2010? I dig the social network he and his company have provided for us. I’ve used it quite a bit in 2010. I’ve probably met some of you this year thanks to it. But I have to give even more props to another company whose services I’ve used even more. Google.

I started using Google Search years back, when Yahoo! just couldn’t make the cut as a search engine. You can see (image to the right) that Google Maps was the next service that caught my eye. That’s really when Yahoo! (and Mapquest) were left in the dust. I can search and use maps all from the same place? What a concept!

As you read down the list of their services that I continued to appreciate, you can see that Google continued to understand how people were changing. People were getting busy (Calendar) now that they had maps to show them the quickest way to get anywhere, blogs were being consumed quickly (Reader), Microsoft Office just wasn’t seamless enough (Documents) and people wanted to share information online, why wouldn’t an actual web browser make sense (Chrome), might as well let people read their email (Gmail) too, and then finish it off by letting people do all of this on an operating system / mobile devices (Android)?!?! I use each of the eight services listed every day. And those are just the big hitters from this long list of all web services they offer.

I’m definitely a late adopter on Gmail. Many have used it for years. I attempted to use Apple’s default Mail app, but finally caved a few months ago (years after many were using Gmail already) and have gone to checking my email (Google allows me to check 4 accounts in 1 place) in the cloud and not locally. And just last week I even ditched the iPhone for a Droid Incredible, mainly for a better network with Verizon. I love Apple computers, but after using the Droid for a few days I’m not so sure I’d go back – even if the iPhone did come to Verizon. The commercials don’t lie – the Droid just DOES. I’d have to say that I’m using Google’s services at least 3-4 times more than I was in 2009. Both Feedburner (bought by Google this past year) and Analytics (web statistics) are two of their services I also use daily, but are specific to web and blog design / development.

What tech company has won for you in 2010? A few responded on social networks yesterday with companies like Twitter and WordPress. I’d enjoy hearing your choice, and maybe even a bit about why, in the comments below.

This has happened to me quite a few times in the past week, and I’m guessing it has to you as well. First off, I have to make it clear that my wife and I created a quick convo (in the pic) only so you could visualize the following (wink, wink):

I’ll login to Facebook and start this conversation with a friend or family member. You’re all excited that they’re on at the same time you are, but maybe they’re not as excited. You have some awesome news for them, but they have no clue what’s coming. They’re interested in what you have to say, but little did you know – they have a full afternoon and have to head out before you get to the good stuff.

The conversation doesn’t just slow down and fade to nothing, it slams like a door in your face. You’re left sitting there, with news that might have even been worth their time. Maybe their internet connection just glitched and they’ll be back on in a few minutes? That seems to happen maybe 1 in 100 times. The other 99? Your news can wait.

Let’s switch it up. You take my place, and God is on the other end. He’s ready to chat, but something fills up your time. Think God’s connection ever has issues? Are you like me, and the struggle isn’t finding God rudely jumping offline when you’re ready to talk, but it’s more likely that you haven’t gone out of your way to login and even see if He might be online at the same time you happen to be?

Now everytime I go to chat with someone, and I get that ugly error message that begs me to “Send it as a message since they’ve left”…..I take that as a sign to jump into prayer. Who would have ever thought Mark Zuckerberg would help us in our walk with the Lord? This ever happen to you, or am I the only one, LOL?