Unintended Consequences of ‘Play’-ing Around!

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Posted By: Michael Anderson

Unintended Consequences of 'Play'-ing Around!

Early this week I saw link to a couple of new music making apps for Android and wanted to check them out, so I clicked and … BLOCKED! That is right – suddenly I couldn’t access Google Play.

I went ahead and asked one of our local IT folks and he said that in general their filters will block download sites, game and music digital download sites and so on, but similar to Amazon’s MP3 and video sites the Google site managed to make it through the filters due to the way the site evolved.

But once the name changed to ‘play’, THAT set off filter alerts … and combined with the gaming and download content meant it was automatically blocked. And, based on what he knew, it wouldn’t be unblocked any time soon – unless a clear business case can be made.

So not only has Google come up with THE WORST possible name change for the Android Market, they have also managed to get themselves caught in the corporate filters at my not-small work site – and a couple of others based on some discussions I have seen.

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!

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2 Comments on "Unintended Consequences of ‘Play’-ing Around!"

  1. Doug Miller | May 1, 2012 at 4:17 pm |

    This was (and remains) truly dumb. “Play Books” – such an embarrassing and awkward name change.  There was nothing wrong with the name “Android Market”, nothing wrong with “Google Book Store”.

  2. Michael Anderson | May 1, 2012 at 4:37 pm |

    … or Google Music for that matter.  ‘Google Play Music’ reminds me of Scotty talking to the mouse in Star Trek IV … 🙂

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