Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#21

Post by ori_b » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 1:56 PM UTC

moxious wrote: post #8

danmaz74 wrote: post #5

I appreciate lots of Google services, open source contributions etc. - but this is really getting out of hand. I wonder, how much can a service like this cost Google? Are the savings worth the negative publicity that comes out of so lightly launch and then shut down services? I feel like they're starting to really damage their brand among those in the know, which are the ones who give advice to everybody else...

Why would this damage their brand? They tried an experiment, if didn't work out, they're moving on. What's wrong with that?

I tried an experiment, integrated into my workflow, and now I have to migrate everything to a competitor.

If that happens often enough, I may just start off with the competitor.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#22

Post by hengheng » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 1:56 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #18

andreareina wrote: post #7

Google has acquired a reputation for shutting down services, which means that people are reluctant to start using new Google services, which means that they have low traction, which means that Google shuts them down… EDIT: They (say they) aren't shutting this down to low traction, but it will only reinforce the existing perception.

Google should start a lifetime project so help people have a better apriori understanding of where and when its going.

Or, to try and understand people's dynamics and behavior as good as they understand tech.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#23

Post by kevincox » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 1:58 PM UTC

franze wrote: post #2

May 16, 2016 - April 17, 2017 so basically project infanticide...

That seems better to me then letting it run for a couple of years first.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#24

Post by patrickaljord » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:00 PM UTC

jasonvorhe wrote: post #16

jaxondu wrote: post #13

I just started using Keep. This is giving me pause.

Keep has been going at full steam for 3 years now. It's one of their prime apps to show off drawing capabilities of the new generation of convertible Chromebooks. Don't worry, Keep is there to stay.

> Don't worry, Keep is there to stay.

You mean it's a keeper? Sorry, it had to be said.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#25

Post by douche » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:06 PM UTC

ezequiel-garzon wrote: post #20

By now I feel I will some day read the unthinkable: Alphabet Shutting Down Google

More likely would be Google Shutting Down Alphabet

Unless search and ads somehow die off as a cash cow catastrophically, that's always going to be the tail that wags the dog.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#26

Post by Wizek » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:13 PM UTC

ezequiel-garzon wrote: post #20

By now I feel I will some day read the unthinkable: Alphabet Shutting Down Google

Or perhaps more realistic in the short term: Google announcing to shut down Gmail beta(tm) over the next several months.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#27

Post by lkbm » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

Just1689 wrote: post #6

Are there any alternatives anyone would care to vouch for?

I didn't use Google Spaces beyond "let me look at this--okay not interested", but it seemed similar to Facebook Workplace (or even just Facebook groups, really), which seems fairly functional.

Are there specific features of Spaces you're looking for?

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#28

Post by tyingq » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:19 PM UTC

ezequiel-garzon wrote: post #20

By now I feel I will some day read the unthinkable: Alphabet Shutting Down Google

I think more likely is some point where Google search has no organic results, but rather, a mix of "KG", widgets, and ads. You can already see the progression...there's many searches that include nothing but Google content until you scroll way below the fold.

Edit: One interesting query is "cancer cure". On my reasonably large monitor, nothing organic showing unless I scroll down. Anything travel related is similar, like "vegas hotels".

Edit2: If you disagree that the importance of the plain organic results is fading, please explain why they keep moving down. Google does understand what "below the fold" means in terms of what's important and what's not. In fact, the algorithm penalizes sites that place the important content below the fold, beneath things that are self-serving.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#29

Post by ohto » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:23 PM UTC

I'm at the point that I don't even try new Google products because I don't trust that they will stay around. I got burned too many times: Wave, Knol, Google Health, Buzz, Notebook, Answers, and most importantly Google Reader.

There is just no way I'm investing time in any new Google product. They are untrustworthy.

For instance, why on earth would I want to use Allo when still Hangouts exists? We know one or both will get cancelled within a year or two. I'm not going to sick my neck out and try to get my friends and family to use one of those platforms only for them to go away.

Re: Google Spaces will be shut down on April 17th

#30

Post by jpalomaki » Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2:26 PM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #18

andreareina wrote: post #7

Google has acquired a reputation for shutting down services, which means that people are reluctant to start using new Google services, which means that they have low traction, which means that Google shuts them down… EDIT: They (say they) aren't shutting this down to low traction, but it will only reinforce the existing perception.

Google should start a lifetime project so help people have a better apriori understanding of where and when its going.

The Google way seems to be to try new stuff without much hesitation and then kill things which don't work out for them. I don't think they know exactly where they are going - which makes perfectly sense since future is hard to predict.