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Google is about to learn a tough lesson

blog.calbucci.com

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Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#3
> Google made a big mistake cancelling Google Reader that will have severe ripple effects to its empire.

Oh come on: enough already. Obviously there was a /vocal/ user base which is very loudly now upset that the product is being sunset. Guess what, Google didn't see it as a large enough set of people to make it worth monetizing. Such is life. Move on. It's certainly not the end of Google if that's what this article is trying to imply. It isn't even the beginning of some horrible backlash either. It is however getting old.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#4
>Third, and lastly, Google is sending a strong signal to the market that it will have no mercy of killing whatever product it doesn’t think it’s going well.

Yep. I was just investigating Cloud SQL storage today and Google has a free Cloud SQL trial plan and decent pricing. I passed it over because I am concerned Google isn't interested in long term maintenance of products, and their support is non-existent. I'd rather go with some no-name startup that probably cares a lot more about my business.

https://cloud.google.com/pricing/cloud-sql

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#5
And as everyone knows the word count tool initiated the downfall of microsoft word empire. Seriously, I don't think it was a bad decision to kill the reader. Not a nice one, but I think certainly not one where Google is going to learn a lesson about.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#6
I'm unconvinced Google is about to learn anything because this isn't the first time they have killed a product with a large following. It seems now if a product doesn't generate at least 100 million, it isn't safe from being discontinued. So YouTube, will continue to live alongside Search, but it looks like Picassa is on its way to be rebranded "Google+Pictures"

Instead it looks like everyone else is going to learn tough lesson - Google isn't a charity, and anything that doesn't provide them any strategic value and/or revenue can be discontinued.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#7
post #2

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is how odd it is that google is killing a product likely used widely within Google .

I don't think it's odd. I think the speculation that some reader features are being rolled into plus is accurate and google wants their internal people dog fooding those implementations.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#9
Google officially lost the "we're not Facebook /Microsoft /Apple [other "evil empire"] company." They have played that game for way too long and many people fell for it. Since Larry Page took over, Google has lost it's soul; now it's just a greedy, money grubbing machine.

Nothing is sacred anymore, no matter how much they repeat http://www.google.com/about/company/philosophy/

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#10
This was my second thought when Google announced that they were retiring Reader (the first was "Nooo!")

Half of my friends use Gmail because I suggested that they switch. I am starting to see Google move toward the dark side, and that means you won't see me recommending Google products to friends. It'll take a while, but there will be backlash... because I'm not the only one in this boat.

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