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Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

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Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#191

Post by callalex »

andybak wrote: post #181
jmull wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that this was a terrible idea from day one and am glad it has been killed and will soon be buried. But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message. Google routinely floats out APIs, services, and platforms and encourages their use despite fatal flaws that mean they are doomed from day one. And some developers fall for it and later have to pay the price. Hopefully, the repeated wa…

> But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message. But it's one that appears with such regularity in HN comments that it drowns out all other discussion. I've frequently seen otherwise interesting posts related to Google derailed into yet another pile on - or even worse full of people that think they are being witty by posting "how soon before it's cancelled?"

You’re interpereting it as someone being witty, but consider that people have legitimate concerns and are supplying mountains of concrete evidence for their position.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#192

Post by ac29 »

toast0 wrote: post #121
wazoox wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There used to be cheap linux notebooks, that what I used to buy, then Chromebooks appeared and replaced entirely cheap linux laptops. I stupidly hoped that it would be good enough, or easily convertible to straight Linux; it isn't. In fact the main problem is that Google Docs doesn't properly support OpenDocument format, making it crippled for me even as a basic desktop (it's only useful as a browser and nothing else…

Many of the Chromebooks are pretty simple to convert to a standard OS. I've got two chrome devices flashed with 3rd party firmware and running FreeBSD. It seems more likely if you get devices running Intel Core series chips (cpu model numbers like xxxxU or maybe xxxxY, but not Nxxxx), but it's good to confirm it's supported by your 3rd party firmware of choice before you buy. I use firmware from https://mrchromebox.t…

Unfortunately, since 2017, Google has been using a new security chip (CR50) that isnt supported in the upstream Linux kernel. So while you can flash 3rd party firmware and install your own OS, the security chip will throw the device into recovery mode if you ever suspend the computer.

AFAIK, there is no workaround for this - if anyone knows otherwise, please share details. I've got a chromebook that I'd very much like to be able to use something besides ChromeOS on.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#193

Post by artificial »

shemnon42 wrote: post #167
crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

Wait what? Edge doesn't support ActiveX controls? Why didn't I notice until now?

I smell another round of consulting fees!

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#194

Post by jamesgeck0 »

jdlyga wrote: post #127

This really goes to show that if you're buying something for the potential of it, you're not always guaranteed to be an early adopter of a hot new trend or technology. Sometimes you are, but not always. You have to love what you're buying for what it can provide you right now.

This philosophy doesn't exactly work in this context; the devices are losing applications provided right now.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#195

Post by izacus »

CydeWeys wrote: post #169
Already__Taken wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once they started selling $2k+ versions, yeh I kind of do think expect that actually.

Yeah, I have no idea who those are for, but the cheaper ones are great for family members who only really need to browse the Web anyway. My tech support burden is way down, and so I love Chromebooks for other people.

Those high-end are amazing business machines for people who work with cloud/web software.

They're very easy to manage from a central location, easy to replace and very hard to break.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#196

Post by andybak »

callalex wrote: post #191
andybak wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message. But it's one that appears with such regularity in HN comments that it drowns out all other discussion. I've frequently seen otherwise interesting posts related to Google derailed into yet another pile on - or even worse full of people that think they are being witty by posting "how soon before it's cancelled?"

You’re interpereting it as someone being witty, but consider that people have legitimate concerns and are supplying mountains of concrete evidence for their position.

I wasn't disputing the validity of their complaint. That's orthogonal to being unfunny through repetition.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#197

Post by cjmcqueen »

jmull wrote: post #158
crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

I agree that this was a terrible idea from day one and am glad it has been killed and will soon be buried. But this: "typical Google cancelling a product" is still an important message. Google routinely floats out APIs, services, and platforms and encourages their use despite fatal flaws that mean they are doomed from day one. And some developers fall for it and later have to pay the price. Hopefully, the repeated wa…

I don't think anyone is saying that web based apps were a bad idea from day one... Wouldn't the success of PWAs and pushing the web forward to support this type of open computing a good thing? Essentially, Google took a bold move, the tech world liked the idea of a more app-centric look a the web and pushed for PWAs. By all accounts, this is a success for all the web. It's okay for a product to go away if better stuff comes of it.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#198

Post by cjmcqueen »

Spooky23 wrote: post #124
crazygringo wrote: post #92

First of all, this was announced more than 3 years ago, and it still won't happen for another 2.5 years. Second of all, this should be treated as good news for the HN crowd: Google is transitioning from a proprietary, Chrome-only app model to the open-standard, PWA model. Who doesn't support that? There are a bunch of "typical Google cancelling a product" comments here. But for real, I simply cannot imagine any Chrom…

Complaining about Google is a sport these days.

Seriously... let it go people. Google is a business.

Re: Google is finally killing off Chrome apps, which nobody really used

#199

Post by dodobirdlord »

dijit wrote: post #34
SifJar wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lightweight/less bloat, lower resource requirements, generally reasonably cheap hardware

I'm sure you mean this unironically, but chrome is by far the heaviest program that the majority of people run.

Well, with a webapp solution the end user is at least likely to only be running chrome once, instead of once per electron app.
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