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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

#101

Post by abraham »

kanzure wrote: post #66
simonsarris wrote: post #12

I sympathize with Google Reader users. I find it occasionally tiresome to be half-foot in an ecosystem. But I've come to accept that this is just the way that Google does things. I love Gmail/Calendar/Maps/DamnNearEverything. I love Groups, which they've recently taken pains to hide[1] so I suspect its up soon for the chopping block. Heck I even love Google+. All that said, at least they had the gall to kill it. One…

> Groups isn't even on the extended products list in the Gmail header bar, though Reader is! You have to click "Even more" to get to Groups. They have been really destroying Groups for a while now. The new ui is terrible, the new url format is also bad. They got rid of instructions for emailing for subscriptions, and someone reported to me earlier today that emailing list+subscribe@googlegroups.com doesn't even work…

list+subscribe@googlegroups.com still works. I used it last week.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#102

Post by joshualastdon »

My first inclination seeing the title of this post even before I read the article was to comment, "are you a fortune teller?"

But seriously, to put it mildly my friend, I don't agree with you. Google determined that the best thing to do was to kill it and they did. They continue building other stuff; life continues.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#103

Post by baby »

ersii wrote: post #50
henrikschroder wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think people who use RSS realize what a small minority they are. I don't use RSS or Google Reader, I've never even seen it, but this week my Facebook has been filled by a tiny slice of my friends who are incredibly upset. The vast majority are just shrugging and not caring one bit. Only Google has the actual numbers on how many people are using their Reader, and they simply did the math. End of story. It's no…

Uhm, I've always thought I've been in a pretty small minority - but at least here in Sweden, RSS reading is pretty normal. Though, the majority of people here aren't using Google Reader - so I guess I'm a minority there - but they're using "Bloglovin". They're pretty large it seems.

I don't know anyone in France who use Google reader or others. Maybe power users but even them... it's not that useful.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#104

Post by marknutter »

Twitter and Facebook killed RSS. It's a far friendlier interface for people to keep up with news and people they find interesting. Geeks may be lamenting the loss of Google Reader, but they make up a very small percentage of the internet population these days. When I suggest that Twitter/Facebook is the new RSS I often catch a lot of flack for it, but honestly, that's how far more people consume information than any other service.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#105

Post by baby »

samspot wrote: post #98

RSS was a literal life changer when I first discovered it. Instead of going to the 5-10 websites I frequented to look for new stories throughout the day, I could check my reader when I took a break and stay up to date on everything. It probably cut my surfing time by 90% or more. Additionally RSS allows me to follow far more things than would normally be possible. Instead of 10 I have 100, including things that don't…

It was a change of life for me too. But a bad one. Instead of checking my favorite websites separately I started checking a hundred websites.

I would eat information. I would get a new post every 30 seconds. I would spend my days just sitting at my desk and archiving what didn't seem of interest and read the rest.

After a few month I started realizing I wasn't enjoying what was written anymore. I wasn't enjoying visiting a website, its design, its UI (And I know the saying, we're not supposed to learn a new UI every time we browse a new website, but I like seeing a websites renovating its design, I like reading an article in its real environment )...

I decided to ditch it. I didn't need the technology. Nobody needed the technology. I didn't mind opening multiple tabs to check different websites.

I use bookmarks, multi row toolbar and tree style tab on Firefox and it's all I need for my big consumption. And I'm a power user. So imagine the normal users, why would they care about Google Reader?

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#106

Post by camus »

baby wrote: post #103
ersii wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhm, I've always thought I've been in a pretty small minority - but at least here in Sweden, RSS reading is pretty normal. Though, the majority of people here aren't using Google Reader - so I guess I'm a minority there - but they're using "Bloglovin". They're pretty large it seems.

I don't know anyone in France who use Google reader or others. Maybe power users but even them... it's not that useful.

i do , and all the french journalists i know.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#108

Post by camus »

jdost wrote: post #19
llambda wrote: post #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…

It is more a combination of the small and vocal user base and the message it sends to them about Google being open to cutting any product that has a usage they don't think is significant. Those people who see Google cut a product that they have adopted into a regular usage will probably add an asterisk to any recommendation for adopting a new Google product. There is no certainty that the lifespan of that Google is d…

nothig else to add , you sum it up perfectly.

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#109

Post by IgorPartola »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #84
IgorPartola wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like self driving cars and Google Glass? Or the cheap/free fiber optic Internet access? Or free Wi-Fi in NYC? I do not think you know what evil means...

Self driving cars are like Microsoft Hailstorm. It's all bombast for now and then somebody clever will steal their lunch. And it is a deviation from their Google core.

And lack of deviation from the core tech that brings in no immediate profit is what tikhonj called "evil".

Re: Google is about to learn a tough lesson

#110

Post by SquareWheel »

danilocampos wrote: post #28

So, what's going to happen, exactly? "Influencers" who liked Google Reader, now jilted, are going to use their magic influence beam to halt the growth of Android, to erode the dominance of Google in search, and prevent the regulatory approval of self-driving cars? Google has quite a few heavy responsibilities on their hands. They have to manage growth and competition in hugely complex, emerging fields. The lesson the…

I don't see how Gina is a good example. She's been a Twitter fan for a long time. There's too much overlap with GReader, so it makes sense she would pick one over the other. That doesn't make RSS "dead".
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