Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon • Hacker News Board

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#101

Post by coolspot » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:20 AM UTC

scaleout1 wrote: post #72

8ytecoder wrote: post #45

Google feels like a company that's run by a bunch of engineers/product managers instead of a product leader with a cohesive vision. Anyone with an iPhone would understand what iMessages is and what FaceTime is. What is what and what you can do with each. Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision? (Or is it "target end state" in engineering speak?) As customers we want (at most) one chat application and one vid…

wait till they break Google voice into Google talking and Google Listening

Then shut down Listening part.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#102

Post by Phrodo_00 » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:21 AM UTC

barry-cotter wrote: post #21

TwoNineA wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throwing shit at wall until something sticks? Example: Google Talk, Messages, Hangouts, Allo

I still miss Google Chat. I spent at least a hundred hours using that, then they changed it to Google Talk and I used it maybe three more hours. Trash fire.

I miss both of those because they supported XMPP, but they dropped that as soon as they started gaining market share.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#103

Post by Steltek » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:21 AM UTC

Declanomous wrote: post #42

pacomerh wrote: post #34

Another one to the cemetery https://killedbygoogle.com/

I don't really think it is fair to include hardware in that list. It makes sense to memorialize the death of a hardware line, but it doesn't really make sense to memorialize every single piece of hardware. That's a bit like memorializing every minor version of software that is superceded by a new version.

Even then, the list of hardware profiles taking a dirt nap is pretty long. Gone are the budget Nexus phones and any true Android tablets. All they have left are a laughable "flagship" phone, a high end Chromebook, and a kiloton of Nest smart home gadgets.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#104

Post by yangikan » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:23 AM UTC

8ytecoder wrote: post #45

Google feels like a company that's run by a bunch of engineers/product managers instead of a product leader with a cohesive vision. Anyone with an iPhone would understand what iMessages is and what FaceTime is. What is what and what you can do with each. Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision? (Or is it "target end state" in engineering speak?) As customers we want (at most) one chat application and one vid…

Their worst update was with Google Finance. It was a fully functional product with great features before they updated it. Now, you cannot compare the returns of more than two stock, cannot compare across different custom time periods, no way to get annualized financial results, the portfolio feature is gone. It is a mess.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#105

Post by lokedhs » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:24 AM UTC

8ytecoder wrote: post #45

Google feels like a company that's run by a bunch of engineers/product managers instead of a product leader with a cohesive vision. Anyone with an iPhone would understand what iMessages is and what FaceTime is. What is what and what you can do with each. Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision? (Or is it "target end state" in engineering speak?) As customers we want (at most) one chat application and one vid…

You mean just like how the messaging "strategy" that gave us Allo also created Duo? Because adding just one new messaging application was not enough. They had to split messaging into two.

Is Duo also being shut down?

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#106

Post by beginningguava » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:24 AM UTC

8ytecoder wrote: post #45

Google feels like a company that's run by a bunch of engineers/product managers instead of a product leader with a cohesive vision. Anyone with an iPhone would understand what iMessages is and what FaceTime is. What is what and what you can do with each. Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision? (Or is it "target end state" in engineering speak?) As customers we want (at most) one chat application and one vid…

>Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision

It's a bunch of very talented, bored engineers who realize that launching a product, even if it fails, is better for their career and resume than doing grunge work that might be better for google's bottom line

Basically resume driven development and Google hasn't done anything to prevent it. They probably don't care, they'd rather have them wasting money at Google than leaving due to boredom and potentially creating a startup or going to a competitor that might disrupt Google somehow.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#107

Post by solarkraft » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:26 AM UTC

Phrodo_00 wrote: post #94

parineum wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is currently trampling Google in messaging.

I don't think that true in the broad messaging space (speaking of martekshare), mostly because apple limits itself to the portion of the market that happens to own apple products. Facebook is, though.

Meh, everyone I know uses Telegram. I haven't used Facebook messages in years because the feature is apparently not on the mobile website and I'm not willing to install an app that requires suspiciously many permissions.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#108

Post by usrusr » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:26 AM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #62

8ytecoder wrote: post #45

Google feels like a company that's run by a bunch of engineers/product managers instead of a product leader with a cohesive vision. Anyone with an iPhone would understand what iMessages is and what FaceTime is. What is what and what you can do with each. Now explain it to me Google - what's your vision? (Or is it "target end state" in engineering speak?) As customers we want (at most) one chat application and one vid…

The lead of Maps spends a large proportion of his time listening to user feedback (some of it even here on HN!). I suspect that's a big part of the reason for the higher quality product.

Maps is just so much closer to the ad business than all those glorified ICQ clones and B2C experiments. The traditional web ad isn't terribly attractive for local businesses, but with Google maps effectively filling the role that yellow pages directories used to have, small businesses seem almost desperate to throw their money to Google. And Google carefully keeping maps from becoming a cacophony of virtual billboards only seems to make that urge stronger: "if we can't directly pay for ranking, maybe buying some other Google ad products will make the algorithms more favorable". The two sacrificial offerings comes to mind. Maps must be a core strategical asset for Google, because the aggregate ad spending potential of all those small businesses is huge, even when you are Google.The chat apps etc are insignificant compared to that. Maybe they really are just Google-scale coding katas to the organization.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#109

Post by brownbat » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:26 AM UTC

I usually jump right on board when Google engineers build something new.

I must be some kind of masochist.

Is there any internal understanding that these head fakes are punishing to fans?

Me and my friends were the ones that used plus. And buzz. And wave.

Now we're terrified to buy anything on the Play store.

I'm arguably a fanboy and even I am starting to worry that humanity might be better off if all the talent at Google was out from under their direct control. If only all the project teams at Google were free agents or in startups where the baseline comparison wasn't constantly asking if their product was as lucrative as advertising...

Be Bell Labs and dump your enormous profits into fundamental research with no expectation of return. Or be Softbank and just incubate the world.

But paying a bunch of talented engineers to build and maintain things you will kill seems cruel to the engineers, the customers, and maybe even humanity.

We already had Signal, et al. We could have used these cycles for other things.

Re: Source: Google Allo will be officially shut down soon

#110

Post by lscotte » Thu, Dec 06, 2018, 1:29 AM UTC

parineum wrote: post #90

tinus_hn wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have to, otherwise Microsoft will trample them with their SharePoint/Office online offering.

Apple is currently trampling Google in messaging.

I doubt it - like most Apple things, it probably only works with other Apple things. Most things in the world are not Apple.