well, the INSTANT feature is a bit distracting with the gray fonts. other than that i see not much different than the original auto suggest 'terms' without INSTANT back in the day.
I think that you could be right, because I do like it and I also use it, of course, more it is not that I would search like that something for me necessary but rather to understand what other could use in their searches and it can really be useful!
I love it...though I must say it was surprising at first when Google seemingly knew what I wanted. I guess I don't get the hatred towards it...it has the same functionality and you don't have to start over when you want to alter your search.
It saves time and gives great feedback while you are searching. I cannot see how you can not like it?
I like it.... Its really amazing to see the speed at which google search works.... and also the animation (or what ever you call) change between instant search results is pretty good.... Also note the textbox which shows partial selectable text and partial non-selectable text(the one google suggests). Should really appreciate the people who have worked on such interfaces... I am quite sure this will improve based on our feedbacks...
personally i also don't like Google's this feature, because it show unwanted result during typing of keyword.