The Technonaut

I’d argue that browser tabs are the biggest innovation in web browsing in the last 5 years.  I’m constantly middle-clicking to open things to read later, or to make it easier to compare between multiple pages. I think a lot of other people are too.

Perhaps then, someone can explain why Google’s web applications have been slowly making it harder and harder to open things in multiple tabs.  First it was Gmail.  No more middle-clicking a bunch of unread messages to open them all in different tabs.  No more having multiple labels open at once.  Try opening in a new tab, and Google either pretends you left-clicked, or breaks completely. They destroyed tabbed browsing in Gmail.  Luckily, I don’t use their interface that much.  

Now, one thing I do use all the time is Google Reader.  That’s why I was horrified to notice today that they’ve begun crippling it too.  They only seem to have repurposed the middle-click for a few small features, but I worry that it’s just the beginning.

A lot of people talk about how great Google is at making user interfaces. However, they seem to be drifting more and more towards the dumbed-down, crap-ass interfaces that Apple puts on iTunes and their iPods.  But that rant is for another day.