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OS Stats Removed From Google's Zeitgeist
Kelly McNeill writes "Google's Zeitgeist service is sometimes used by news sources as a resource to generate install-base (don't call it market share!), statistics for operating systems. osViews contacted Google to bring some clarity to questionable aspects of the OS statistic, to which Google said that Zeitgeist is only a fun search inquiry resource and should not be used to generate statistical information. A couple days after that inquiry, we found that Google has since removed the OS stats from the Zeitgeist service."
I know a lot of people were waiting to see the July browser stats to see if Internet Explorer share dropped off after the vulnerability announcements last month.
Google doesn't index user sigs, so stop trying to "Google Bomb" with them.
I have a question for slashdot... can I use your polls for scientific research? Will my request result in slashdot removing their polls section? What kind of a crazy assed reaction is this? Why not just put a disclaimer up on the page that says, not scientific.
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Programming is like sex... Make one mistake and support it the rest of your life.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Looooooooonix?
Hopefully MSN will pick up where Google left off and provide free unbiased stats.
If people are citing Google's "just for fun" figures as something to base critical decisions on, Google could be subject to liability for the accuracy of the figures. Granted, it's not likely that a lawsuit would succeed, but simply having to defend against one wouldn't be very good.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Who needs an operating system when you run all your services through a portal on a cross platform environment like the web?
That the OS/browser stats would not be too reliable (I assume they are computed similarly, via the User Agent String) I can also easily understand.
That they took the stats off Zeitgeist, however, that's what I don't get. Wonder if they are now a bit paranoid about all things media after their recent faux pas?
BTW, those who don't like reading the articles would wish all stories were like this ;)
The revolution will not be televised.
The big problem with the Zeitgeist stats, from what I've heard, is that they only recorded the same IP address once. For people who are more likely to have a broadband connection, which is probably true of Mac and Linux users, they get counted less because their IP address changes less frequently. As Google said, it's just for fun.
Is there a Google cache of Google's Zeitgeist?
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
I, for one, would be very interested in seeing the browser and OS breakdown on Slashdot. IIRC, slashdot has not given out this info in the past?
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You surely do live in the greatest country in the world.
...was so people can't refer to Zeitgeist's damning 1% Linux usage statistic anymore when discussing desktop Linux. If you disagree, let me know why.
http://www.google.ca/press/zeitgeist.html
Google has pulled OS stats from the US Zeitgeist but Canada still has them. And Lindsay Lohan has pulled ahead of Avril Lavigne.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
Will relevant text ads be displayed based on the content of your files? Or will you have to pay to run Google OS?
Win a signed Stephen Carpenter ESP Guitar from the Deftones: http://def-tag.com/?r=0008781
The USS Enterprise was originally given the CV-6 designation to demonstrate that she was a "Carrier Vessel". However, after extensive war operations she was refitted for nighttime/round-the-clock operations. To signify this, her designation was changed to CVN-6 (Carrier Vessel, Night).
I don't know where you get your facts from, but they're all wrong. The USS Enterprise had the designation NCC-1701. (CC being Constitution-Class)
After Kirk blew up the original Enterprise, the USS Levant (NCC-1843) was redesignated USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A). And AFAIK, she did not only have round-the-clock operations, the ship was fitted for full five-year missions!
While you may be correct as to the reasoning that prompted them to do this, it begs the question...
.... they were sued by Louis Farakahan when they did a crowd size estimate of the Million Man March, that Farakhan said, was intentionally smaller than it really was.
How fucked up of a society do we live in that people can't provide interesting statistics out of fear of being sued?
This legal bullshit is the same reason that the US Park Service refuses to release any kind of estimates on crowd sizes for protests in Washington D.C.
Insanity.
I think that if Google's leadership were to try such a thing, they'd be more interested in positioning Google to create an entirely Web-based desktop that is platform agnostic, than a traditional OS.
During the dotcom era, there was a company out of Maryland (sorry, can't remember the name...WorldOS, maybe?) trying to do this very thing. And there was the Network of Workstations project, that was started at UC-Berkeley (1996 to 1998).
Why would Google write an OS specific to any one hardware architecture, when, as we all know, "The network is the computer"?
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
I am the owner of osViews.com and the individual that submitted this slashdot post. It appears as if the article got slashdotted.
Unfortunately, I don't have a second copy of the article otherwise I would post it here. My Slashdot summarization pretty much captured the gist of the editorial, however there is one part that should be mentioned.
In Google's Zeitgeist statistic there was a 5% figure that represented what the OS statistic as "other". I thought that this was bizarre because the Linux and Mac statistics even combined were less than the "other" which encapsulated them all.
I don't believe that the more obscure OSes make up a number that is larger than both Linux and mac combined. This is what prompted me to call Google to get some clarity.
i thought that perhaps Google was doing some subdivisions within the Linux or Mac stats.
For example, Google might have only been reporting 3% to represent the OS X installations as opposed to all Mac users and then grouped the non OS X users (Mac Pre OS X) into the aforementioned "other" category.
Google has GoogleGuy who responds on a lot of forums. From what I understand, it mostly one guy, but it's a generic name so that anyone that works at google can step up and fill in for him.
You mean like Apple is planning to do with Spotlight in Tiger?
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
In Google's Zeitgeist statistic there was a 5% figure that represented what the OS statistic as "other". I thought that this was bizarre because the Linux and Mac statistics even combined were less than the "other" which encapsulated them all.
There's a large network traffic generated not by human surfers but by various bots, scanning the Web for whatever purpose. The bots often identify themselves in a strange way - a comprehensive list of their user-agents can be found here and I always thought that this is actually the majority of the mysterious "other". They are not human users of desktop OS'es, but bots running automated google searches. What do you think?
I love how people keep saying Microsoft has already done this when the product won't be out for another 2 - 3 years.
I think it is more correct to say, "Microsoft is trying to do this with WinFS."
I still think Google would be able to get this "Out the door" before Longhorn arrives if they wanted to since they are in the data searching business.
Stop believing the hype. Longhorn is NOT a product yet.
Someone who works at osViews.com submits an article about osViews.com. Jeez, people, buy an ad!
It's a very dark ride.
Drop this into /usr/share/services/useragentstrings and you can conveniently select it from Konqueror's "Tools/Change Browser Identification" menu at once. In 51 different languages. (-:
If you like melting webmaster brain cells, use this instead.
My mailserver used to answer as a "Commodore 64 (with anti-spam cartridge)".
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing