On the whole, Barack Obama's presidential campaign is wonderfully internet-savvy. The new Obama iPhone app is getting rave reviews. They "get it" about the iPhone. Their YouTube video foreshadowing a tough attack over John McCain's Keating scandal is just the right buildup. They "get it" about online video.
However, they evidently do not "get it" about search. An Obama campaign site called JohnMcCainRecord.com starts with a good idea. There is one page for each of 13 issue categories -- foreign policy, homeland security, rural issues, and so on. Each page contains three claims criticizing McCain's record, each with a link to further detail. But where it goes awry is in the UI. The small error is that font size is so out of control that, with only three bullet points to present, they commonly get two "below the fold." The big error is that the site features, right in the center of its home page, possibly the worst search engine I have ever seen.
How bad is it? Well, in every case the search result takes you to one of the 13 issue pages or, which is completely terrible, leaves you stranded on top page with no result at all. For example, results include:
Edit: They keep doing it! Here's an even worse example, on a site that's much more important to them.
Curt Monash is a leading analyst of and strategic advisor to the software industry. Praised by Lawrence J. Ellison for his "unmatched insight into technology and marketplace trends," Curt was the software/services industry's #1 ranked stock analyst while at PaineWebber, Inc., where he served as a First Vice President until 1987. He subsequently co-founded Evernet, Inc., a $40 million networking systems integrator. Since 1990, he has owned and operated Monash Research, an analysis and advisory firm covering software-intensive sectors of the technology industry. In that period he also has been co-founder, president, or chairman of several other technology startups.
Curt has served as a strategic advisor to many well-known firms, including Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AOL, CA, and Netezza. Curt earned a Ph.D. in mathematics (Game Theory) from Harvard University. He has held faculty positions in mathematics, economics and public policy at Harvard, Yale, and Suffolk universities.
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NWW Obamafied
What? Free political campaign consulting. Pathetic.
Seriously?
This might be the most pointless thing I've ever read in my entire life.
I find it interesting how it
I find it interesting how it says "On the whole, Barack Obama's presidential campaign is wonderfully internet-savvy." when I found out from an insider that the Obama camp's Exchange server is on a public IP address with no firewall. They can connect to it directly, no VPN needed. I do not mean web access either. It is totally unprotected other than Microsoft's OS and exchange. Wow that IT savy!
Obama Record is an oxymoron
As flawed as this site is, it is worthy to note that the ObamaRecord.com page is blank (as is BarackObamaRecord.com).
I suppose his greatest achievement of his time in the Senate is that he won his party's nomination. And considering how badly the Dems f--ked us all over this no-documentation mortgages disaster, that's hardly a qualification for president.
just lost....
...90 valuable seconds of my life I'll never get back reading this article.
"Pathetic". Good choice of words...