Google Instant

[Gavin Chipper]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

[Jon O'Neill]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

I use it. It takes some getting used to before you can harness its full capabilities, which you probably won't like, seeing as you're still stuck on Internet Explorer.

[Thomas Carey]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

Couldn't agree more. That's the full reason I use IE - you can turn the stupid thing off (There's a little button under 'search'). Type 'how do you turn instant off' (or something to that effect) into any search engine and it comes up with loads of bullsh*t about how amazing it is and stuff but it dosen't tell you how the f*ck you turn it off.

[Jon O'Neill]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

Couldn't agree more. That's the full reason I use IE - you can turn the stupid thing off (There's a little button under 'search'). Type 'how do you turn instant off' (or something to that effect) into any search engine and it comes up with loads of bullsh*t about how amazing it is and stuff but it dosen't tell you how the f*ck you turn it off.

You can turn it off very simply on all browsers.

[Phil Reynolds]

In the perceptive words of Charlie Brooker, it's "like trying to order from a waiter who keeps finishing your sentences while ramming spoonfuls of what he thinks you want directly into your mouth".

[JimBentley]

I use it, and I definitely wouldn't go back to the normal way unless they stopped doing it for some reason. It's a really good system.

[Jon O'Neill]

In the perceptive words of Charlie Brooker, it's "like trying to order from a waiter who keeps finishing your sentences while ramming spoonfuls of what he thinks you want directly into your mouth".

It's more like trying to order from the most efficient waiter in the world, who after each sound that comes to your mouth, manages to bring a reasonable guess at the dish most people are likely to want to the table whilst at the same time removing the previous dish which he's now established you don't want, all the time not interrupting your order. You can stop speaking and start eating as soon as you like.

[Gavin Chipper]

In the perceptive words of Charlie Brooker, it's "like trying to order from a waiter who keeps finishing your sentences while ramming spoonfuls of what he thinks you want directly into your mouth".

It's more like trying to order from the most efficient waiter in the world, who after each sound that comes to your mouth, manages to bring a reasonable guess at the dish most people are likely to want to the table whilst at the same time removing the previous dish which he's now established you don't want, all the time not interrupting your order. You can stop speaking and start eating as soon as you like.

But under "normal" Google, it comes up with suggestions anyway that you can click on at any time. Google Instant loads up a load of crap every time you press a button and it just slows down the process.

[Jon O'Neill]

In the perceptive words of Charlie Brooker, it's "like trying to order from a waiter who keeps finishing your sentences while ramming spoonfuls of what he thinks you want directly into your mouth".

It's more like trying to order from the most efficient waiter in the world, who after each sound that comes to your mouth, manages to bring a reasonable guess at the dish most people are likely to want to the table whilst at the same time removing the previous dish which he's now established you don't want, all the time not interrupting your order. You can stop speaking and start eating as soon as you like.

But under "normal" Google, it comes up with suggestions anyway that you can click on at any time. Google Instant loads up a load of crap every time you press a button and it just slows down the process.

It doesn't slow down the process at all.. You haven't looked at what happens. You're just dismissing it out of hand and not considering what the benefits might be.

So just to correct your factual mistake: unless you type a letter every two seconds, it doesn't "load up a load of crap every time you press a button". It doesn't slow down the process. At no point is your text entry slowed down. It just does what it did before only without the click.

Now the genius of it. When you type something and it suggest results, you can simply press the down arrow to scroll through the results for each of its suggestions; this is great for trying to find out specific facts because you can do an array of googles that people have done before without having to ever navigate backwards.

This is the future of the Internet.

[Thomas Carey]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

Couldn't agree more. That's the full reason I use IE - you can turn the stupid thing off (There's a little button under 'search'). Type 'how do you turn instant off' (or something to that effect) into any search engine and it comes up with loads of bullsh*t about how amazing it is and stuff but it dosen't tell you how the f*ck you turn it off.

You can turn it off very simply on all browsers.

How?

[Jon O'Neill]

Couldn't agree more. That's the full reason I use IE - you can turn the stupid thing off (There's a little button under 'search'). Type 'how do you turn instant off' (or something to that effect) into any search engine and it comes up with loads of bullsh*t about how amazing it is and stuff but it dosen't tell you how the f*ck you turn it off.

You can turn it off very simply on all browsers.

How?

If you want to change a search setting, such as Google Instant, click the options button, then click search settings. Then change the search setting you want to change. Then slick save.

[Mark James]

Does anyone here use this? As far as I can see, it's one of the most annoying pices of shit ever invented. I'm surprised they haven't ditched it.

Please tell me you're taking the piss or on a wind up or something. How is it annoying? You don't have to look at the things popping up if you don't want to. And seriously Thomas? I searched for "google instant" and there was an FAQ section on the very first page it gave me which tells you how you can turn it off. But again, why would you want to?

[Ian Volante]

No impediment at all to me, occasionally useful too.

[David Williams]

Never heard of it, had to look up what it is. And, of course, it's something I use already. Useful. You'd have to go out of your way to be irritated by it, I would have thought.

[Gavin Chipper]

So just to correct your factual mistake: unless you type a letter every two seconds, it doesn't "load up a load of crap every time you press a button". It doesn't slow down the process. At no point is your text entry slowed down. It just does what it did before only without the click.

Now the genius of it. When you type something and it suggest results, you can simply press the down arrow to scroll through the results for each of its suggestions; this is great for trying to find out specific facts because you can do an array of googles that people have done before without having to ever navigate backwards.

This is the future of the Internet.

A couple of things. I think they have improved it. When I first dismissed it, it definitely interfered with what you were typing to the extent that what you typed didn't always end up in the typing box. That doesn't seem to happen now.

However, it does still mean that what you type doesn't always come up in the box as you type. This lag is simply annoying. And when you hold backspace to delete a load of text it is slow at getting rid of it. So your text entry is slowed down.

When I type stuff into Google, it's rare for me to look at the typing suggestions and want to scroll through them all. So I don't really see it as that much of an advantage. Under normal Google, I can still click on suggestions with normal Google even if I may have to navigate backwards. Realistically, I will either complete the typing myself, or click on the one suggestion that is the suggestion that I might want it to come up with.

I don't know why Google (in general) doesn't seem to like quote marks either in its suggestions. On Google Instant (just found this out), if you put someone's name in quotes, it won't come up with just their name as an option. It has to stick something after it and you have to click on the "search instead" thing. That's another thig that annoys me about Google in general. I'm quite happy with "Did you mean", but to overrule you and make you click on "Search instead" is very annoying.

Basically, for normal searches where you want to decide what to search for rather than letting Google take you on a wacky ride, the disadvantages easily outweigh the advantages. And for me, that's 99% of searches.

[Ian Volante]

I've never had my quotes searches overruled. I don't think they like you.

[Charlie Reams]

I like how it's integrated with the "search from the URL bar" thing in Chrome, since that's where I do 90% of my searches from.

[Gavin Chipper]

Did they just quietly get rid of this?

[Ian Volante]

Did they just quietly get rid of this?

No?

[Gavin Chipper]

Did they just quietly get rid of this?

No?

This still happens for you? The main thing was not the suggestions but loading up a whole new page of results every time you press a button.

But while we're at it, the suggestions are often awful. Often you'll type in a name and it will only come up with something after it. E.g. you start typing Damon Hill and it suggests stuff like "Damon Hill Sky F1" without the name on its own so you have to type the whole thing anyway.

Edit - They got rid. Obviously they wouldn't admit that it was because it was a pain in the arse but I think we all know.

[Ian Volante]

Did they just quietly get rid of this?

No?

This still happens for you? The main thing was not the suggestions but loading up a whole new page of results every time you press a button.

But while we're at it, the suggestions are often awful. Often you'll type in a name and it will only come up with something after it. E.g. you start typing Damon Hill and it suggests stuff like "Damon Hill Sky F1" without the name on its own so you have to type the whole thing anyway.

Edit - They got rid. Obviously they wouldn't admit that it was because it was a pain in the arse but I think we all know.

Oh right, I equated instant as the suggestions rather than the gubbins below.