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Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

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Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#71

Post by hackernewbie »

My impression of google from age ~15 was of a company who had balanced profitability with genuine altruistic intent. They had so many products, tools, services, libraries... everything and pretty much all of it was free and freely available.

It hasn't really changed that much, but jesus, my perception has. Charging for Google Maps was a warning sign, though it only really applied to companies, fair game. Wave was flippant, it came and went too fast to understand the gesture. Google Notes always needed some love and attention it was never going to get.

But Google Reader? It was/is uniquely useful. Widely supported, widely loved, widely used (as far as I can tell). It was the kind of thing that made me feel Google had your best interests at heart, I can't imagine it made them much money.

Just to clarify, I'm not upset about Google Reader, far from it http://theoldreader.com/ looks entirely capable of picking up the slack. It's just upsetting to see a company that I really thought was different is just a company with margins and directives and the rest. I guess I'm an idiot.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#72

Post by jfoutz »

yanw wrote: post #44

This is ridiculous. How hard is it to import an OPML file into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we really need to keep regurgitating this story?! it's been dominating the front page for a week now. Here are the differences between Reader and Keep: Reader was an abandoned and an unclaimed product, kept on life support. Keep is a feature of Drive, a product…

It's just hard to tell what's going to stick around, and what's going to disappear. Microsoft gave you a disk, and they support a crazy amount of backwards compatibility even on the newest os. I think apple has been fairly clear, old stuff won't run on new machines. Google, just kind of turns stuff off. wave had a manager. buzz had a manager. the finance api had a manager.

I get it, they need to get rid of old stuff. It just feels like a new way of doing that. People stick to windows because stuff keeps working, even if MS would rather it dies. People avoid OSX, because stuff stops working with new versions of the OS. There's nothing wrong with people abandoning google forever over little things.

Frankly, I'd be super sad if i had to leave gmail, i've used it for almost 9 years, and i really love it. But, will gmail be around in 5 years? 10? For almost a decade, i was utterly convinced gmail would live forever. I'm not so sure now. What happens when google wants us to all move to NewSocialNowWaveBuzzPlus thing, and puts gmail on life support to encourage that? Is it likely? no, of course not. Is it within the realm of possibility? Yes.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#73

Post by raylu »

duggan wrote: post #46

Merits of whether Keep is comparable to Reader aside - I wonder how long we're going to be seeing the "...but Google Reader" refrain from pundits. The camps of opinion I've seen on how Google should behave: 1) Pundits: Support an increasingly burdensome array of fringe services which cost them more than they gain (in their opinion) 2) HN: Reduce their experimental forays and leave (for now) private/small companies to…

Can I instead be in 4) whatever [0]

As a user of Google Reader since too long ago to remember, I'm annoyed that I have to find an alternative but it also shouldn't be sparking a discussion about high-level, long-term Google strategy.

[0]: http://hackingdistributed.com/2013/03/17/google-reader/

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#75

Post by tjbiddle »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #11
ghshephard wrote: post #2

My favorite comment from the post: "And by the way – how is this app strategic for you guys and Reader is not? A little clarity would certainly be appreciated." I too would love to know what Google is thinking here.

It ties into Google Now. It's already super convenient for me. Swipe up "Google, note to self, pick up milk". Now I have a TODO. Combine that with what Google already knows (that I leave work at 5 and drive within half a mile of a grocery store), think about the intelligence they could bring to my Todo list. (I know lots of people aren't going to like the privacy implications, my comment isn't meant to apologize or t…

Now already has an option to update you on a story that you read earlier. I don't see why Reader couldn't play into this.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#76

Post by trimbo »

lubujackson wrote: post #10
psbp wrote: post #3

Is this also a warning to Evernote to never remove features? I'd hate to be a company that makes products that Om uses.

Products are different than features. And the point is, if Google is "going social" and streamlining everything to Google+, why did this product even get released? Why isn't it just some new social storage feature on Google+? The reality is that Google is the new "Old Yahoo". New product come out with a big fanfare, some techies get excited for a month, and then 2 years later it gets unplugged for some "bold new dire…

> The reality is that Google is the new "Old Yahoo".

Wow, this is the first time I've seen anyone put it that way, and it's completely true. I remember trying to rally around Yahoo Briefcase. Then Yahoo Photos. Then Yahoo 360. Or how about Microsoft?

But I guess it just comes back to companies being growth-oriented. If a service is launched, is not the company's core business, then stops growing, it's on the chopping block immediately. So ultimately it's much, much better as a user to go with a company that's dedicated to that task and lives and dies by it.

Viva Dropbox, Box, Evernote, etc..

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#77

Post by greenyoda »

marssaxman wrote: post #45
fakeer wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realise there were feed services that went kaput because of Reader[1] and one fine day Google decided to give it an injection. Is it really that difficult to see this happening to sth like Evernote or Simplenote? I mean seeing Google's reach it's very much possible. And as Malik has raised the question in his post - what's in it for Google? No one seems to know this. They might just be testing one of their APIs b…

What is "sth"? Services? Software?

Probably short for "something". See definition #1 here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=sth

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#78

Post by senthilnayagam »

angryasian wrote: post #35

the tech community is curious sometimes. When a startup pivots, for a chance for something better its celebrated. When Kevin Rose shuts down oink cause it doesn't meet his initial expectations its applauded. Yet everyone wants to speculate how important Reader was to a vocal few (only google knows active user number) and they are the bad guy for possibly shutting down a niche service for a few to focus on bigger ambi…

If a start up does not pivot it potentially dies, but google with its multi billion dollar revenue and infrastructure can keep it alive . They won't do it, because they don't get it.

G+ is a failure, as was wave and so many others from google stable. But G+ is important to this one guy, he is willing to sacrifice everything for this one.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#79

Post by Shooti »

DigitalTurk wrote: post #56
Shooti wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not dropping CalDav, they're just going to start screening its access: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19gOLSlkTzHi-zub3BkMv7Ot0JML...

So how does that help me if I want to sync iCal with Google Calendar? Addendum: The way I read that form, they will only consider whitelisting apps if the developers ask for it. As a user, I'm still screwed.

Seems practically a given that Apple iCal and iOS will be whitelisted by Google as clients.

Even Windows Phone 8 has that confirmed: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/google-caldav-support-sti...

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#80

Post by yanw »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #66
yanw wrote: post #44

This is ridiculous. How hard is it to import an OPML file into any of the other feed services that already exist on the web, or those popping up everyday. Do we really need to keep regurgitating this story?! it's been dominating the front page for a week now. Here are the differences between Reader and Keep: Reader was an abandoned and an unclaimed product, kept on life support. Keep is a feature of Drive, a product…

Google served a giant turd sandwich to a bunch of journalists by closing Reader. Now Google is eating the shit it created. Google is going to continue eating shit until they grovel. Unfortunately for Google, no one is responsible for closing Reader, thus no one will step up to the plate and fix this PR disaster. There is a clear path to fix this mess, and I guarantee no one at Google has the humility to fix the probl…

It's hardly a PR disaster or a mess needs cleaning. It's just some pissy folks that are taking a little longer to get over it. It'll pass I'm just tired of hearing about it.
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