No. of Recommendations: 1
Natural language is how we have evolved to communicate and ask questions, and I think we always need the precision of language to formulate a question carefully. But the input device can change - we can ask with speech, but that will have no effect on how Google interprets and provides the indexed responses.
If things go aural to any significant degree then it will change Google's revenue significantly. You're thinking 'ask a question, read multiple answers on screen.' Suppose it's 'ask a question, get the response by voice'. How does Google monetize that? By putting 3 ads in front of your answer? This is a (much) long term issue, but it's an issue. At least Alexa can order stuff from you, giving Amazon a chance to monetize your request (and get a marketing kickback from the manufacturer for putting him first in line.)
The targeting is pretty ridiculously bad
I guess I haven't seen much better elsewhere. My complaint is them littering the page with paid and often irrelevant text to the point where the actual request is inundated under a half dozen ads before you can find it. This makes the site far less useful and vulnerable to someone who can present satisfactory results without so much crap in the way. There is a sweet spot; Radio & TV have about 15 minutes of ads per hour, more and the audience disintegrates. Phone and computer box manufacturers passed the point of crapware to such an extent that Apple made ads about it and gave consumers clean machines. Google is over the line here.
they would have been better off not having these radical random-to-sky projects
I'll say. Some things, like g-mail were fairly obvious extensions. Others, like flying cars (oops, I mean self-driving) not so much. This is not a 'stick to your knitting' complaint, but if you have a knitting factory, don't build a steel mill to show how smart you are. Maybe Musk gets away with it, but it's rare, almost unique.
it [cloud] is a commodity that doesn't have durable advantage
I have wondered about this. I think there is enough stickiness and friction that changing vendors would be difficult for many. Amazon's big advantage may have been just in getting their firstest with the mostest. Momentum can do a lot for you, not forever, but almost nothing is.
