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Google Keep

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Re: Google Keep

#91

Post by foxylad »

threepipeproblm wrote: post #57

Ha like I will ever enter into dependence on another Google app.

I'd love to know how you posted that comment, then.

Because if you've stopped using anything from Google because they ditched Reader, presumably you've also sworn off all Microsoft products (they killed Clippy!), anything from Apple (R.I.P. QuickDraw 3D), Ubuntu (oh Gnome2, how I loved thee)...

And you won't be using any internet provider since they ditched gopher, or dial-up over the phone service because the bastards discontinued telex.

Or maybe you could admit that you're over-reacting slightly?

Re: Google Keep

#92

Post by dannyr »

taligent wrote: post #55
ok_craig wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people, including myself, feel that Evernote is overly complex and not enjoyable to use. I've always wanted a simple app that lets me sync basic text notes across devices. All the ones I've been able to find have something off about them, whether it be interface, lack of sync, complexity, or other annoyance. I find Keep to actually be quite nice, and it fits my needs. I assume there are others for whom this i…

The plural of anecdote is not data. The facts are that Evernote has in excess of 30M users, with lots of paying users and growing rapidly. There is no evidence that this mythical complexity is affecting adoption. And I don't see how Google Drive and Evernote are competition. Very different use cases.

30M is a fraction of the total mobile phone users. I could argue that it's possible that Evernote could get 100 million users if it's more more simple.

Re: Google Keep

#93

Post by pseut »

cromwellian wrote: post #73
taligent wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evernote is a very successful company with a successful business model and whilst I don't expect them to outlast humanity I do expect at least a few years. Google has a well established record now for abandoning projects. Especially those that are free.

Let's get some perspective here: Google Reader ran for 8 years , far outlasting the majority of Web sites and Apps launched in that time. Evernote has only been around since 2008, where will it be in its 8th year of life? What happens if Apple builds a really great Evernote competitor into Siri? With the attitude expressed in the comments here, one should never ever use any startup's new product, because 99% of them…

There's a difference between "use" and "rely on," and I think one would have to be a fool to not factor in a startup's viability (as best as possible) when deciding whether or not to integrate its product into one's workflow. If you use dropbox, do you use it the same way now as you did when it was in beta? Or do you trust it more now? If you don't use dropbox, I'm sure you can think of similar examples that make the same point.

For various reasons (that have nothing to do with their viability as a company) I don't use Evernote and didn't use reader and I'm not going to use keep. But I think it's fair to consider google's track record with similar products over the last decade when debating whether or not to use keep.

Re: Google Keep

#94

Post by est »

xymostech wrote: post #45
dvncan wrote: post #23

why are the css classes so funky? (e.g. class="TUdKmf-xhiy4-haAclf h1U9Be-xhiy4-qAWA2"). Are they randomly generated? what's the purpose?

It looks to me like they're just obfuscated words. If you look at one of the hierarchies, you see "TUdKmf-xhiy4-haAclf", then "TUdKmf-xhiy4-DKlKme-haAclf", then "TUdKmf-xhiy4". Seems like they're just taking a normal class like "note-body-wrapper" and "note-body" and obfuscating it.

I think it's auto generated from GWT?

Re: Google Keep

#95

Post by jinushaun »

mindstab wrote: post #64

Warren Ellis: Dear Google: why launch Google Keep when you've just proven you'll shut off productivity services when you get bored with maintaining them? https://twitter.com/warrenellis/status/314493398138630145

They already killed Keep the first time. It was called Notebook.

Re: Google Keep

#96

Post by yen223 »

habosa wrote: post #18

This is extremely minimal, I'd honestly expect more from a Google product. There's not even a tutorial or anything. Also why are there not any text formatting options? I'd love a real Google Evernote competitor but this is not even in the same league. Am I missing something, or is this just neutered Google Drive?

"This is extremely minimal, I'd honestly expect more from a Google product."

Off-topic, but does anyone remember the time when Google's UI consisted of just a textbox with their logo on a plain web page? And how they were getting tonnes of praise for that?

Re: Google Keep

#97

Post by tomkarlo »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #69
dragonwriter wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I used Google Notebook fairly heavily, but they discontinued it. I love (and pay for) Evernote now, which has lots of great integrations with other products. Why would I trust Google again? Given that you need a Google Account to use this, and it is a new component of Google Drive, I don't think its really about winning back people who have rage-quit Google over the discontinuation of Google Notebook (or Google Rea…

I read the grandparent comment as more of a "We don't trust you, therefore we won't invest in your new service, therefore you won't get the use out of it you expect, therefore you will kill it, and the prophecy is fulfilled." Google is doing something which I didn't think was possible, which is to teach a vast marketplace that "free" isn't real. I've had the conversation with lots of people about how free services ar…

There are lots of free services that are sustainable, because the cost of delivering them is less than the amount they earn through advertising or premium users. There's no ponzi scheme aspect to that. (Google Search, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

Even if you're paying for something, it can still go away. There have been lots of paid services that failed, both online and offline. (Kozmo.com, Saab, Webvan, Hostess, etc)

There are sustainable free services, and there are unsustainable paid services, and often companies don't know what category a product falls into until years after it's been released.

Re: Google Keep

#98

Post by dragonwriter »

gpjt wrote: post #85
dragonwriter wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Now, in the light of the Reader abandonment, it's more like a feeling of joy that Google will educate the world about how great an idea this is, and then abandon it just about when I have something that other people might actually want to use. Drive, while also available for free, part of the core of the paid Google Apps offering, and its (as the parallel to OneNote) a key part of Google Apps being an alternative t…

You may be right -- possibly I'm overcompensating for my earlier worries. Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project.

> Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project.

And that can be a compelling reason to do it, anyway, sure.

Re: Google Keep

#99

Post by dragonwriter »

pseut wrote: post #93
cromwellian wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's get some perspective here: Google Reader ran for 8 years , far outlasting the majority of Web sites and Apps launched in that time. Evernote has only been around since 2008, where will it be in its 8th year of life? What happens if Apple builds a really great Evernote competitor into Siri? With the attitude expressed in the comments here, one should never ever use any startup's new product, because 99% of them…

There's a difference between "use" and "rely on," and I think one would have to be a fool to not factor in a startup's viability (as best as possible) when deciding whether or not to integrate its product into one's workflow. If you use dropbox, do you use it the same way now as you did when it was in beta? Or do you trust it more now? If you don't use dropbox, I'm sure you can think of similar examples that make the…

> But I think it's fair to consider google's track record with similar products over the last decade when debating whether or not to use keep.

How is a standalone, non-monetized product like Reader similar to a feature of Google Drive (one of the core elements of the paid Google Apps.)

Re: Google Keep

#100

Post by humbledrone »

ocean12 wrote: post #25
j2kun wrote: post #21

Just after killing Google Reader, and you think you can get me back so easily?

Paul Thurrott: "You start using it, I'll start my countdown to the service's death." https://twitter.com/thurrott/status/314476511497445376

Where does the countdown start? At nearly 8 years, which is the lifespan of Google Reader? How many other free services on the web lasted that long [1]?

I'm an avid Reader user. I'm terribly sad to see it go, but I appreciate the value I've gotten out of it while it existed.

Plenty of web services -- maybe most -- die after a while. Maybe the company offering it goes under, maybe nobody uses it, or maybe it's just not accomplishing the goals the company set out for it (ahem, Reader). In any case, 8 years _has_ to be higher than the average lifespan [1]. So I assert that even if you assume every new Google service will be killed in 8 years, you're still better off choosing them (from a longevity perspective).

[1] I would absolutely _love_ to see some data about average web service lifespans. I suspect that it is actually quite low. I also suspect that Google has a much better track record than the industry (again, on average).

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