Google Kills Cloud Print

Post by wlesieutre » Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 4:14 PM UTC

taborj wrote: post #167

bhouston wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the right move though because moving towards "Driverless printing" will solve the overall problem in a simpler way: https://openprinting.github.io/driverless/ Google is pro-adapting to change. And it is painful but it is usually the right thing.

Driverless printing has been "the future" for over a decade now (I remember hearing much about it back in 2006 or so), and a concept for two decades. Microsoft first filed the patent back in 1999 [0]. The only thing that's changed is the patent is now expired (as near as I can tell), thus opening the door a bit wider for adoption. But, as with many things, "I'll believe it when I see it." [0] https://patents.google.c…

Post by londons_explore » Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 4:16 PM UTC

darkwater wrote: post #99

geofft wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CUPS is exactly what Google is switching Chrome OS to, as a replacement for Cloud Print. But the reason to have Google's (or someone's) servers involved is so that you don't need to be on the same network (e.g., you can print to your home printer, behind a firewall/NAT, while you're at a coffeeshop, also behind a firewall/NAT).

Buuuuut, is that really a valid use case? how many people do actually want to remotely print from another network to a printer, beside print shops without dedicated WiFi networks? How many people do actually want to use it as some sort of fax-machine replacement?

Post by rudolph9 » Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 4:17 PM UTC

thfuran wrote: post #179

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They might not be wrong. Engineers who could be maintaining mildly profitable products could be invented new products that have some percentage chance of being much more profitable. If someone did the math and said the expected value of "engineer working on new projects" was bigger than the expected value of of the the profits of an existing project divided by the number of engineers needed to maintain it, then it'd…

What's the expected value of not having your brand known for routinely canceling products without much notice? It seems like any company would have to be crazy to want to depend on any new Google service for anything important - and that's bad for Google.

Post by dleslie » Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 4:18 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #112

dleslie wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quit Google and start paying for services that you value.

What's a paid alternative to Google Cloud Print?

Post by Someone1234 » Fri, Nov 22, 2019, 4:19 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #156

areoform wrote: post #62

Google has the corporate equivalent of ADHD. Having talked with ex-googlers and current googlers, the problem seems to be deeply baked into their culture. The incentive structures seem to favor the sexy over the boring, making it much more likely that someone will get promoted for launching products versus growing one. The fix seems to be obvious, create a separate path, a maintenance and growth hacker path, where pe…

This is the right move though because moving towards "Driverless printing" will solve the overall problem in a simpler way: https://openprinting.github.io/driverless/ Google is pro-adapting to change. And it is painful but it is usually the right thing.