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Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

gcemetery.co

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Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#41

Post by nfriedly »

jedberg wrote: post #33
nfriedly wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is impressive. I've seen it have hiccups before, but I just tried again on my (old) 3DS XL and it did indeed still work. Not being able to switch users is pretty aggravating, though. (Both for me and the family member who's account the 3DS forces me onto.) That issue alone prettymuch keeps me from using it :(

> Not being able to switch users is pretty aggravating, though. It should be noted that the final version of the 3DS app predates multiple users, hence the limitation. The app can't be updated.

Oh, does Nintendo not allow you to ship updates? That would make it a pain to support!

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#42

Post by d0gbread »

jedberg wrote: post #15

I noticed in the "recent deaths" section, YouTube for 3DS. This made me laugh, because at Netflix, supporting the 3DS was always a big pain. Regardless, Netflix still supports it to this day. In fact, as far as I know, Netflix has only ever killed support for one platform -- The PS2. And that was only because there were only about 10 people left using it. So we sent them all Rokus and told them we're discontinuing PS…

Can confirm. Found my Boxee a couple months ago and Netflix worked. I honestly couldn't believe it.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#43

Post by steren »

jedberg wrote: post #22

I wonder what this is the average of? It is the average of just things that were killed, or the average of all products, including living ones like Search? And is it really average or is it median? > based on discontinued products listed on our website This makes me think it is only dead products, which seems like it would skew things a bit. If anything this tells me it takes them a long time to make a decision to ki…

Exactly. This website is either making a very basic mistake or is just plain misleading.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#44

Post by plumeria »

jedberg wrote: post #15

I noticed in the "recent deaths" section, YouTube for 3DS. This made me laugh, because at Netflix, supporting the 3DS was always a big pain. Regardless, Netflix still supports it to this day. In fact, as far as I know, Netflix has only ever killed support for one platform -- The PS2. And that was only because there were only about 10 people left using it. So we sent them all Rokus and told them we're discontinuing PS…

The counter example would be Google Maps. They really care about this product. I think they even support Palm OS.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#45

Post by ortusdux »

As I understand it, a successful product launch is a strong addition to a "promo packet". What we are seeing is the inevitable result of a system that prioritizes new products above all else. If google wanted to combat the stigma that they kill 3 out of every 4 products they launch, they could just start rewarding promo packets that demonstrate maintenance and growth. I still have Reader bookmarked as a reminder to not get to invested. Show people that they are committed to the longevity of their products and you might just get more early adopters for you next big launch.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#46

Post by d0gbread »

heavymark wrote: post #3

I imagine Google views this as a positive thing, trying a million ideas, so that hopefully it increases the chances of having at least one good and popular idea. The downside is, a lot of products they killed were good ideas, but its sink or swim and they don't get the products the needed love and attention so they don't take off and thus they kill them. And now even when releasing a good idea or good piece of hardwa…

These stand alone products get killed but I would be interested in seeing a similar summary by feature. It's always seemed like a strategy to me that they build and release an MVP, early adopters explore it, love or hate it, and the best of what's killed winds up integrating into the core suite.

For example, I miss Google Latitude but location sharing is a feature of Google Maps now. I never used Inbox but I assume some of the new Gmail features are from what they learned there.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#47

Post by daxfohl »

Pxtl wrote: post #31
underwater wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably more like a year with actual support and updates, two years where it's left to whither and slowly die, and then a year of notice before sunsetting it.

Yeah. By that logic MS has eternal support for everything, because MS has a legendary hardcore approach to backwards compatibility that they will release a product, push it hard, and then abandon development on it... but still have it "officially supported" for a decade while it bitrots into a nightmare... but never tell their users "stop using this, it's deprecated". As much as I hate Google sunsetting products, I h…

Or worse when an old product kinda pseudo gets merged into a new product, in a way that makes both of them worse. Better just to cancel the old one and move on.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#48

Post by jVinc »

While some might be seeing 212 potential youtube scale success stories that google killed "for no apparent reason", I'm seeing 212 potential wework scale disasters that google avoided by killing off successful pitfalls and focusing on their core. The truth is somewhere in between, but obviously with google being what it is today, none of these cases chip-ed of anything from their success.

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#49

Post by daolf »

sct202 wrote: post #23
jedberg wrote: post #15

I noticed in the "recent deaths" section, YouTube for 3DS. This made me laugh, because at Netflix, supporting the 3DS was always a big pain. Regardless, Netflix still supports it to this day. In fact, as far as I know, Netflix has only ever killed support for one platform -- The PS2. And that was only because there were only about 10 people left using it. So we sent them all Rokus and told them we're discontinuing PS…

Netflix is the last app that works on my Sony Google TV from 2011. The YouTube app shut off after like 2015, but 8 years later Netflix is still trucking.

My mom still watch Netflix daily from my old Wii U I left home.

Every day with streaming still working is considered a win

Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them

#50

Post by ThatPlayer »

Like always, I have issues with these lists. Project Ara is there despite never actually launching a product. Or Google Glass is on there despite a new Google Glass hardware that was released this year.

They also list Google Sky Map ( https://gcemetery.co/google-sky-map/ ) which they call discontinued because Google released it as open source and handed over reigns to another group of developers, but looking at the github it still gets updates too, so I can see this one being either way. https://github.com/sky-map-team/stardroid

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