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Google Opens U.K. Cybercafe and Testing Lab

Posted by Zonk on from the ticket-to-london-please dept.

sebFlyte writes "Google has launched a new venture in England to go with its London offices. They've set up a free Web cafe style affair at London's Heathrow airport to help travelers claw back some of the many hours they spend aimlessly wandering round airport lounges. They're not doing it entirely selflessly though: they admit the main reason they're doing it is to get as wide and as large a cross section of people through the centre as they can so that they can then watch them interact with Google's Web applications. ZDNet has photos, too."

8 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm... Noticed something... by Pichu0102 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Perhaps it's also to promote Firefox as well? I noticed that the browser used in the screenshots was Firefox. I wonder if Firefox is the only thing installed, or if Internet Explorer is also on there?

    1. Re:Hmm... Noticed something... by Pichu0102 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If they switch Operating Systems altogether, they'll probably lose a ton of users, seeing as most associate Windows with computers. If average users see Firefox, most likely they'll feel like it's unfamiliar and feel a bit edgy about it, but to use a different OS altogether? That in itself would put off a lot of people in one move.

    2. Re:Hmm... Noticed something... by Air-conditioned+cowh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If encouraging people to use non MS operating systems was a priority for them then their desktop apps would at least be cross-platform.

      It clearly isn't for them because they aren't.

  2. another good community minded move by know1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's ideas like this that make people not mind when google wants a lot of information about you. All those people who will cry "If this was microsoft you would hate it" - microsoft collates it's data surrepticiously, every webpage you visit or email you write. offereing a free web cafe and saying "but we will watch you" in public no less, is a good thing. I can hardly see anyone looking up anything they wouldn't want anybody to know about anyway at a public terminal

  3. I don't get it ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I read this a while back and I still don't get it. Is this some area where you can basically surf whereever/whatever you want to do ... or are you restricted to only using Google Applications so they can see how you interact with them? The later makes more sense from a Google User Interface point of view ... but if I were a traveler, I just want a (fast/open/free) wireless connection to do what I want to do - I'm confused how observing that could be so useful to Google. And heck, they track me anyway with their cookies! ;-)

    --
    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
  4. free marketing? by Deitheres · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not complaining about slashdot, per se, but did anyone else notice the marketing in those pics?

    Must be nice to be a company as big as google, you don't even have to pay to advertise any more. Just do something cool and people eat it up.

    9 hours a year... Yeesh.

    Makes me glad I don't fly.

    --
    Just like driving a car:
    (D) to go forward
    (R) to go backward

  5. Google Employees by Jazzer_Techie · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From TFA, 3rd Picture Caption
    The 10 Samsung laptops in the temporary installation will be manned from 0700 to 1900 by Google employees from across the organisation, with some flown in especially to help out.
    --
    It would appear that Google has been flying in their more attractive employees. (Or maybe if I worked for Google I'd look like that too.)

  6. Table of Contents for all Google News by kai.chan · · Score: 5, Funny

    To save Slashdot readers some time in the future in all Google related News Stories. Let me provide a universal Table of Contents to summarize the posts that will inevitably follow:

    Introduction of our Overlord:
    - How many Google News Stories will we see today?
    - "I am tired of hearing about Google!"
    - I, for one, welcome our Google (topic) overlords

    Chapter 1 Obligatory:
    - Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of (topic)
    - Does (topic) run Linux
    - Step1: (topic), Step2: ???, Step3: Profit

    Chapter 2 Conspiracy:
    - Google = New Microsoft??
    - Google = Skynet
    - Is Google only friendly on the outside?
    - Case Study: a guy who knows a guy that works at some company claiming Google as the next biggest competitor!!!
    - Google Fight claims that all of the above are true!

    Chapter 3 Downfall
    - Is Google too big?
    - Does Google have enough funding to branch out so much?

    Conclusion Finale:
    - Is Google going to be hit by a flying chair?
    - Future of Google, such as GoogleOS and Google Condoms



    You all know that it is true.