Google and the Customer Service Myth
As far as I can tell Google never received any complaints on their _customer service_ until the release of the Nexus One. It seems like tech journalists everywhere immediately pounced on Google's poor customer service for the device, despite the hardware being produced by HTC and the network being provided by T-Mobile. Since then, people seem to have latched onto the zeitgeist and extended the label to Google Apps, Gmail, and even core monetary products like AdWords/AdSense which I would argue do have sufficient customer support.
I don't fully understand why we, the generally technocratic crowd on HN, are doing this. Google, like every company, has finite resources, so the more they focus on customer support, the less focused they become on polishing & innovating. They have a pattern of taking an everyday product (like an email client) and making it so commonsense/easy-to-use that it no longer needs customer support. I assume this is why Gmail was in beta for so long. It was simply a disclaimer slapped on a fully-developed product that there wasn't going to be reps standing by to take your calls. It's almost as if they're betting that things like a word processor are becoming so quotidian that the product won't need to be supported; a bet I would not take them up on.
I almost expect these sort of criticisms when I'm reading something like _Wired_, but I would think HN would have different priorities when it comes to customer service. Think about the last time you downloaded a piece of software; did you chose to download the stable version, the beta, or _the nightlies_? In other words, when given the choice would you choose a technically superior product or one that is better supported?