Perhaps Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg are geeks of similar kind. Gates, along with buddy (and chief executive) Steve Ballmer, is known by us old-timers for a series of self-effacing videos spanning more than a decade -- many distributed internally or shown publicly at tech trade shows. Zuck is ignored -- gasp, is there a metaphor here -- in the first commercial for Facebook Home. The app is now available on Google Play.
While Zuckerberg introduces Home to Facebook employees, he is ignored by one using the Android skin. The video, which is posted to YouTube, had about 7,000 views when I peaked yesterday; the number is nearly a quarter-million today. The commercial spot is fun, festive and does what many of us wish we could do in a room: Ignore Zuck. Something so self-effacing makes him more human, too, less the geek or the privacy-invader critics call him. Put the CEO in more videos, I say.
I had planned to test Facebook Home -- actually use it as my the default experience on my Android for a week and write about it. Officially the software supports HTC One, One X and One X+ and Galaxy S III, S4 and Note II. None of my devices are supported. Hehe. So much for the benefits of stock Android. My wife and I both have Nexus 4 and my daughter iPhone 5.
There's common theme here. Google services are increasingly siloed, not as readily available as they once were, nor are stock Android devices as inviting. Consider the nearly absent Google-provided apps for Amazon Android, BlackBerry 10 or Windows Phone 8, for example.
Is Google blocking the way Home, or did Facebook simply decide not to go there? Either, or both, is sensible. Considering Nexus device owners are presumably Google enthusiasts, Facebook might not want to invest in them first. The search giant has reasons to keep Zuckerberg and Company off its turf.
Increasingly, Google prognostications about openness is more a closed door among rivals. Facebook Home so completely takes over the user experience -- homescreen, notifications and messaging -- there is little room left for Google+. The search and information giant has big ambitions for its rival social network. Must I buy a HTC or Samsung device to go Home?