gdgt

My initial reaction was a negative one... and most of the following reactions were negative too :) But I think the only reason I have a problem with this is that Google Play includes all Apps in its name.

I'm fine with "Play" including all genres of the the other kinds of media they're housing in the service because the movies, music, and books portions of the service are still all about media consumption. So even if you read a book about business on there, it's still media consumption and the majority of the stuff is going to be entertainment anyway.

But I feel like there's a greater percentage of apps that are geared more toward productivity and information than entertainment. I'm looking at my main homescreen, and here are apps that I think look weird under the "Play" label:

Lastpass
Square
Email note to self
Timer
Clock
ING Direct
ING ATM Finder
Ziplist
1Weather

Other apps that come with the phone:
Google Voice
Calendar
Google Docs
Calculator
Phone
People
GMail

That's if I'm being strict. There are plenty of other ones that I don't think fall under the "Play" category, like Zillow, Wikipedia, Amazon, and even Glympse. Everything I've mentioned is on my primary home screen, and they share space with several other apps that I would feel comfortable including in "Play" like Angry Birds, IMDb, Netflix, etc.

Oh well, I guess I'll get used to it. Google is struggling to make these other parts of Play as important as the App Market, and this certainly accomplishes that.

I leave you with a pie in the sky idea: perhaps Google starts a Steam-like service for video games that gets lumped into "Play" along with the movies and books?

It does seem an odd choice to me. Maybe the name was chosen for marketing reasons which won't be clear until they start rolling out commercials? "Android. Just press Play." I guess something like that makes Android sound less complicated than it can sometimes be to the average person.

Maybe they got wind of some copyright or trademark infringement cases pending and decided to head them off at the pass?

Obviously, I can't think of a good practical reason to do this, which is why I am grasping at straws. I can understand the concept of unifying their multimedia offerings under a single brand, which makes a lot of sense, but then they throw that to the wind by including apps under the same moniker.

I guess I don't really care in the grand scheme of things as long as they don't try to lump all this stuff under 1 meta-app a'la iTunes. I am too much of a UNIX geek at heart... I prefer small, specialized apps that do one thing well to all-purpose behemoths that do lost of things on a functional level but none of them well. I guess I will have to see how this unfolds before I can formulate any kind of final opinion on it.

Kind of a dumb name, sounds like a game application hub, as opposed to serious productivity applications.

They did this to put a better emphasis on their entertainment offerings, something that I don't think people realize or utilize in the Android Market. I don't think this is really a big deal, people will get used to it.

Also, I like the logo.

Someone commented on Twitter that he didn't know how Mom would react on an Android phone, "touch Play - to do what"? Poor choice of naming.

They clearly want more cc in their system and see gaming as the way to do this. Good luck with that as an "economy" is more than CC's. Especially given that most people who buy games on iOS AppStore aren't even 18.

My first thought was "Not another change". My fear is that the constant changes it will push people away. They should do it in one move stick with it for a extended period. The constant name/logo/appearance changes only confuses the average consumer. I've even seen people get frustrated/mad. Sounds silly but I can understand them a bit.

For me personally it doesn't matter if they name it Google Floor as long as the purpose of the service is good and all products are GLOBALLY available.

Seems to me that they have changed nothing but the name. i like there new logo though