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Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

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Re: Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

#51

Post by maguay »

cryptoz wrote: post #18
ogrodnek wrote: post #17

Seems to be more proof that the telephone is becoming legacy -- the least important part of a "smartphone" is the phone.

I own an iPhone 3G and I really wish that my carrier (Rogers) would let me get rid of all phone-related services. I don't want or need them. Internet in my pocket is really the important part. And if I want to talk, send my voice through the data channels! Same with TV; I don't own one, but I wish the cable companies would kill a few shitty cable TV channels and use that bandwidth for Internet data instead.

Hmm ... maybe you should get an iPod Touch with a MiFi. Or, of course, perhaps Apple will eventually make an iPod Touch with a sim card like the iPad 3G. If it did that with the same data price plans, that would be really great.

Re: Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

#53

Post by g1ng3r »

inafewwords wrote: post #45

My parents got into an argument for getting lost locating a restaurant. We were going to head home so I pulled out my cellphone and used goog411 to contact the restaurant and ask for directions. It was located around the corner from where we were driving around. That place was delicious.

Cool story, bro.

Re: Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

#54

Post by maguay »

maguay wrote: post #51
cryptoz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own an iPhone 3G and I really wish that my carrier (Rogers) would let me get rid of all phone-related services. I don't want or need them. Internet in my pocket is really the important part. And if I want to talk, send my voice through the data channels! Same with TV; I don't own one, but I wish the cable companies would kill a few shitty cable TV channels and use that bandwidth for Internet data instead.

Hmm ... maybe you should get an iPod Touch with a MiFi. Or, of course, perhaps Apple will eventually make an iPod Touch with a sim card like the iPad 3G. If it did that with the same data price plans, that would be really great.

Now why in the world would that get downvoted? Is that not a reasonable suggestion? Sometimes HN confuses me...

Re: Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

#55

Post by joezydeco »

smakz wrote: post #39
joezydeco wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rumor I always heard was that 411 was only around to stress-test their voice recognition backend. It really wasn't delivering ads or anything of revenue to them.

I've also heard rumors that Gmail and Adsense for Content aren't particularly profitable for Google. Of course I've also heard that the brand equity created with Gmail is very valuable and those two are extreme examples, but even based on similar rumors it's possible Google could shut down either one.

I don't think Gmail would get shut down since it's a part of Google Apps, a paid service. Unless that turns out to be a burden on the company...
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