Did Google Buzz too early?

Blog > Did Google Buzz too early?

When Buzz was launched a few weeks back, it came as a bit of a surprise and with a pile of issues, the biggest of which was relating to the privacy, or lack there of. This was quickly addressed by Google, but it left a sour taste in people's mouths about a product that appeared to have been rushed out without much thought to it.

Buzz appears to have been built to compete against Twitter for the micro blogging service, however, it also has Facebook to content with with that more Twitter like updates. One rather odd decision then is why does it need you to use a Gmail account to do the work? Surely it would be more beneficial to have it accessible to everyone, sure, tie it into Gmail, but don't make that the sole point of access. Also, linking onto your email means you have to give people your email address to follow them? I'd rather keep my email and my online 'handles' seperate if you don't mind.

I looked at it myself, but am struggling to find a use, very much like the recent Wave system. Is it another system that Google have pushed out to try and get in on an act, to build on once they've got some momentum. Would it have been better for them to wait a little and get a more complete, and tested product ready first?