Live data from Hacker News

Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

nest.com

281–290 of 600 posts

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh didn’t realize YouTube annotations was killed off. Gotta say, most annoying thing to me was discontinuing support for the Nexus 6p after only 2 years. Made me switch to iPhone for ever.

YouTube annotations unfortunately were misused for spamming purposes. It is one of the few cases where you can say good riddance.

If you found them annoying you could always disable them, I was rather fond of them, people did lots of cool stuff with them. Like choose you're own adventure videos, and 3kliksphilips CSGO skin showcase videos. I think they should have kept them. They kept bitching about them not working on mobile but that's only because they chose not to support mobile

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#282
post #198

If you're even slightly surprised by this you weren't paying attention when Google bought the Revolv smart home ecosystem then took it out back and shot it. All the customers got when their expensive smart home devices shut down was a "Thanks for playing, here's a coupon for saving when you buy a Nest because we just turned off all your shit". Google is a company with severe ADHD. Consumers expect home appliances to…

When Lowes shut down their IRIS system, they actually sent out checks refunding every cent all of their customers had paid out into their hardware. I was completely shocked I haven't found a replacement for them yet, but I'm incredibly wary of investing into any ecosystem these days.

I'll trust a smart outlet to cut my AC on for me. I'll even trust a wi-fi security camera aimed at my front yard. However, my corpse will be in the cold, cold ground before I hook a door or an oven up to the internet.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been considering pasting this: https://killedbygoogle.com/ every time the argument comes up. Maybe Google proponents will make one for other companies notorious for killing services, but at least for now, the Google Graveyard grows.

Would love to see a comparison of products "killed by Google" to products "killed by Microsoft" or even "killed by General Electric". I'd bet a week's paycheck that Google's list would be the shorter one.

Microsoft hasn't killed many online services, and besides Azure doesn't have dominant control of the internet like Google does. MS kills support for old box products and hardware devices, but that doesn't mean you can't still use them! (Also, what would we even kill? Bing? MSN?)

When Google pulls the plug on Nest, they burn an entire ecosystem, and piss off the people they should be working with on IoT. It's really stupid strategy.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#284

It's interesting to see the responses to this article and contrast with the responses to the article regarding Facebook's possible 5B fine. I don't know the motivation behind this decision but I can't help but see the two sides of the same coin. If we decide as a society that third-party apps misusing the platform in a way that hurts the users or otherwise looks bad to the outside world is the platform's fault, even…

which the app that harvested data for Cambridge Analytica had

This is just part of the picture and almost revisionist in its briefness.

Sure, they had "permission" from the user, which took that "personality-test" to harvest their data.

Who sure as shit did not agree to have their data harvested were the friends of those who took the test and whoms data was harvested and resold with applomb and abandon.

Leaving this part out of your statement makes this statement a lie by omission.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been considering pasting this: https://killedbygoogle.com/ every time the argument comes up. Maybe Google proponents will make one for other companies notorious for killing services, but at least for now, the Google Graveyard grows.

Would love to see a comparison of products "killed by Google" to products "killed by Microsoft" or even "killed by General Electric". I'd bet a week's paycheck that Google's list would be the shorter one.

Not really.

GE may have stopped making a radio your parents bought in 1948, but it's perfectly possible it still works. How many perfectly functional devices have GE bricked simply because they were bored of supporting them? MS Windows drivers support just about every ancient crusty device MS ever made - apparently forever.

It's the web obsession with having every trivial action go through an online server - for data gathering - that breaks the consumer's implied contract with hardware devices: That they should simply work until physically beyond economic repair.

Most of those simple web API actions could function just as well on the LAN, so the device could function indefinitely - you'd just lose remote access when the Google API server shuttered. The 99% case of controlling lights or thermostat whilst in the home would still work, just no longer remotely from a hotel 1,000 miles away.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been considering pasting this: https://killedbygoogle.com/ every time the argument comes up. Maybe Google proponents will make one for other companies notorious for killing services, but at least for now, the Google Graveyard grows.

Would love to see a comparison of products "killed by Google" to products "killed by Microsoft" or even "killed by General Electric". I'd bet a week's paycheck that Google's list would be the shorter one.

I’d tend to agree.

The difference is probably visibility.

Microsoft have for the longest time been hiding in the cushy enterprise segment where customers pay you halt development and kill products.

Closed-off products. Perhaps not even a resonable API. Definitely not public facing.

I’m kidding about enterprise software, but it’s kind of true.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#287
post #109

Man, Google is the new Microsoft of the 90s. Fuck them. I have 3 Nest thermostats (bought prior to the Nest acquisition.)

No. There is a lot of reasons to criticize Microsoft but they keep their services/apis alive longer than any other company.

Plays for Sure

But generally speaking I don't disagree with your assessment. It's just that media for hire was never really their strong suit and the Zune was a bit of a joke.

Where they must have suffered a world of pain is to keep old software compatible on newer Windows versions and I actually appreciate that.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been considering pasting this: https://killedbygoogle.com/ every time the argument comes up. Maybe Google proponents will make one for other companies notorious for killing services, but at least for now, the Google Graveyard grows.

Would love to see a comparison of products "killed by Google" to products "killed by Microsoft" or even "killed by General Electric". I'd bet a week's paycheck that Google's list would be the shorter one.

Are you including all products that work, but no longer receive updates? Because yes, MS-DOS 1-6 ate no longer supported, windows 1.0-3.11, qbasic,...

All those would still work btw. You just wouldn't get updates / newer versions of them.

But if you're talking about services that rely on online servers it seems different. And these are services that no longer work once the plug is pulled.

For MS the list I can pull from memory is far shorter. In fact, i only remember Zune. I bet i missed several, but more than Google?

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#289

I see Google API/ecosystem fans often defending or dismissing Google’s pattern of behavior here, using arguments like this: “Well, sure, they shut down that API I don’t use — big deal; all things come to an end eventually! But, they’d NEVER do that to this API I rely on — that would be so horrible, Google just would not do it!” I hope we all can acknowledge that this argument is on perpetually eroding ground, at the…

I've been considering pasting this: https://killedbygoogle.com/ every time the argument comes up. Maybe Google proponents will make one for other companies notorious for killing services, but at least for now, the Google Graveyard grows.

I didn't realize they killed chromecast audio. Pretty frustrating. I may not have committed so much to their echosystem in Dec.
Post reply on HN