Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s erstwhile CEO once famously
commented that Yahoo is much more than just a white web page with a box on the
top (ominous reference to Google). In the long run it is the same white page
with the box that scored more and won the trust of users at large. Neither
Yahoo, nor Ms. Bartz could match the services of Google.
The question I have is slightly different from the one that people openly ask nowadays. I ask
myself “what happened to Yahoo!?” – The Yahoo I knew has always evoked a sense
of nostalgia in me, and many other web users who created their first emails
(Yahoo mail) or had their first crush with a stranger (Messenger) using their
services. This question first came up in mind when I read Jerry’s announcement about stepping down as CEO, and
it popped again when read about Carol’s ouster .
Many web users like me have created their first email IDs
and experienced the wonderful experience of instant messaging using services of
this great brand. Those were the mid 90’s when half the world wasn’t aware of
the now popular concept of social networking. Yet, we used the Yahoo! Messenger
and have created, shared and learned to use smileys [ J] and abbreviations
(BRB, OMG!, etc.) also which became integral part of our daily communications.
No other messenger was as popular or as user friendly as Yahoo Messenger those
days. Yet Yahoo! failed to capitalize on its popularity and design its own
evolution along with the history of the Internet.
Though I do not want to compare Yahoo with other
services, I would like to make some comments in the following posts, on what
Yahoo could have done to better the experience of its users.
What is your experience with Yahoo!? What changes would
you like to see to their services?
Do
please mark your comments below.
