Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself • Hacker News Board

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#161

Post by angryasian » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:24 AM UTC

senthilnayagam wrote: post #78

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.

but I think you proved my point. How many dead end services can google continue at their scale before it starts hurting much like microsoft ? Google kills things quickly and tries something new. I applaud them on taking this mindset. G+ is far from a failure. The only people that say this are people that haven't tried it yet

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#162

Post by schuke » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:36 AM UTC

fakeer wrote: post #134

chii wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its a terrible shorthand for "something". I always read it as "sith".

I am from India and so I grew up on British English and have stuck to that. I was gifted a Oxford Pocket Dictionary when I was a kid, by an uncle. I practically learned my English with that dictionary, had it till recently when I passed it down to my niece(who is in 5th grade as of now). Now, you'll have to trust me on these two statements: 1. I did learn " sth 'can' be used for something " from that old good little…

Same here in China. I grew up learning English using mostly British textbooks and sth is introduced to us quite early, pretty much like xyz in algebra. I'm actually quite surprised to find out it's perhaps not that common in the US.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#163

Post by bad_user » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:42 AM UTC

AJ007 wrote: post #150

mindcrime wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bingo. It's very unfortunate too, as Google were uniquely positioned to be great defenders of the Open Web. Who else has the clout to do it now, as well as the motivation? Does anybody see Marissa moving Yahoo that way? I'm guessing "no" but would love to be proven wrong. It won't be Microsoft, you can bet on that. Red Hat are a moderately powerful company, but they aren't that big and could wind up acquired by Oracl…

I think there is a compelling case Microsoft should move in the other direction. Will they have the right leadership in the future to do this, I don't know. Microsoft is not a lost cause. I came of age as an active Slashdot reader. At that time Microsoft was seen as an arch villain that could do nothing but evil. Curiously, today Google has a far deeper and more chilling degree of influence far beyond what Microsoft…

> Google today, makes the Microsoft of yesterday look like a used child's toy.

That's a childish opinion. A grown up would see how Microsoft is constantly threatening with a nuclear patents war, sliding in that pool of companies that can't innovate any more and so they turn to litigation.

If anything I'm seeing signals that Microsoft is turning into a patents troll.

The wishful thinking on Microsoft turning into a beam of openness would be laughable, if it wouldn't highlight the tragedy of human nature (we are so stupid sometimes).

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#164

Post by utopkara » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:50 AM UTC

Does anybody remember Google Notebook? It did almost exactly what Keep does.

I used notes extensively, and one day... You know the drill.

Good luck to those who will jump on Keep. After notebook, I switched to MacJournal, it works great for me, and I am not thinking of switching to an online alternative. There are other tools that are better suited for keeping stuff, such as DevonThink (check Macupdate Promo).

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#165

Post by utopkara » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:53 AM UTC

utopkara wrote: post #164

Does anybody remember Google Notebook? It did almost exactly what Keep does. I used notes extensively, and one day... You know the drill. Good luck to those who will jump on Keep. After notebook, I switched to MacJournal, it works great for me, and I am not thinking of switching to an online alternative. There are other tools that are better suited for keeping stuff, such as DevonThink (check Macupdate Promo).

To give you a sense of how important the notes were for me: I kept all the literature search for my thesis research, and my reviews in notes. Thankfully, they let me download the stuff I had in there. But, the data was useless in itself.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#166

Post by yareally » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 6:59 AM UTC

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #16

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

How is Now strategic?

I used it on vacation a lot the other week. Just say "Navigate me to x" or "Directions to y" or "Find the nearest z" and you get it right away in Google Maps/Navigation. Probably my favorite non-passive feature of it.

Then when staying at the hotel, it knows I'm staying there and tells me when I'm driving elsewhere how far away I am from it with traffic and how to go back via a notification.

Other times, if you call a place, like to order carryout, it knows you called it by the telephone number and then gives you a notification of how far away that place is and offers directions.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#167

Post by senthilnayagam » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 7:25 AM UTC

angryasian wrote: post #161

senthilnayagam wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

but I think you proved my point. How many dead end services can google continue at their scale before it starts hurting much like microsoft ? Google kills things quickly and tries something new. I applaud them on taking this mindset. G+ is far from a failure. The only people that say this are people that haven't tried it yet

People don't live in ghost town. Facebook has won agree that gracefully

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#168

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 7:26 AM UTC

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.

[deleted]

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#169

Post by abalone » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 7:27 AM UTC

Hey you know what would be super xtra cool? If this Keep thing let you keep clipping links, like, automatically, from the same site, whenever new stuff is published, into your Google Drive(TM), which is super cool b/c it syncs down to your computer so you can read those clips offline... OH NEVERMIND.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#170

Post by coopdog » Thu, Mar 21, 2013, 7:29 AM UTC

mkr-hn wrote: post #69

creativityland wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should all start using Google Plus more. Still don't understand why people won't make the switch.

There's not much to do on there. I see image memes that aren't interesting. I scroll down to find a "What's hot" box with some boring thing from the NRA. Why does Google think I want to see anything from the NRA? The rest is news and updates I already saw on Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. This is with a few carefully curated circles. I culled a few people out for flooding me with uninteresting things, but G+ hasn'…

I actually get pretty relevant/entertaining things in my what's hot feed.

I'm pretty sure it depends on who you follow, it only takes a minute to search for a couple of your interests and follow them but worth it