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05.11.06
The French Oxymoron Called Quaero
 By
Neville Hobson
In January, I wrote about Quaero, a planned European multimedia search engine, the answer to Google and brainchild of the French government.
My own thoughts about it were expressed thus:
[…] The idea of Quaero is a terrific one. Yet I can't imagine anything more oxymoronic than "government-backed search engine."
Loic Le Meur - a Frenchman - has posted a withering commentary on this oxymoron, lambasting the French government in the process.
Headline points from Loic's 10 reasons why the French search engine will fail:
1. Can't spell it.
2. Centralized.
3. Secret versus beta.
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4. No buzz, no adoption.
5. A galaxy of actors who compete to get the subventions and don't get much noticed for their latest web innovations.
6. Not really international.
7. A neverending story.
8. Not enough euros.
9. Subventions euros are not worth venture capital euros.
10. Google is a thousand startups
See Loic's post for the excruciating details.
About the Author:
Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology. |
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