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Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

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Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#111

Post by yasth »

stathisg wrote: post #84
Navarr wrote: post #2

I really don't like things like this. A lot of these projects ended up as other projects or built into other projects. Google checkout turned into Google Wallet. Google latitude ended up as part of the Google+ Identity overhaul. There's also a lot of projects that are "labs" or "beta." Clearly they didn't gain the traction Google wanted from them. Google's like any other startup on a project-by-project basis. If the…

To add one more in the list, Google Talk eventually became Hangouts. The list states that it was abandoned in 2013, but it was actually still working properly at the end of 2014 when I last used it. I don't know if it works any more, since I eventually switched to hangouts (although I was reluctant to do so - https://twitter.com/StathisG/status/530740696719060992 ).

Talk was replaced by Hangouts, not became. There are important differences because talk was based on open models, and Hangouts... was not.

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#112

Post by cbr »

nadams wrote: post #55

They forgot Google Code[1]. It's still "up" but it's obvious it's been abandoned by the amount of spam issues that have been building up. I know people like github more than google code - but I personally liked Google Code for it's simplicity. [1] - https://code.google.com/p/support/issues/list?can=2&q=&sort=...

Should Google just kill it and suggest people move to GitHub?

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#113

Post by toddsiegel »

SuperKlaus wrote: post #87

Can't believe nobody mentioned Google Reader yet - that was such a great product and they killed it, still haven't found anything that comes close (and I'm paying for a theoldreader.com subscription, they're good but no Google Reader).

Agreed. I lament the death of Reader on an at least weekly basis.

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#114

Post by methehack »

Navarr wrote: post #2

I really don't like things like this. A lot of these projects ended up as other projects or built into other projects. Google checkout turned into Google Wallet. Google latitude ended up as part of the Google+ Identity overhaul. There's also a lot of projects that are "labs" or "beta." Clearly they didn't gain the traction Google wanted from them. Google's like any other startup on a project-by-project basis. If the…

It is a little unfair, I agree. And I think it's all too easy to be snarky about other peoples hard work (haters gotta hate), especially when it doesn't work out.

At the same time, Google seems to want it both ways. They have an idea and use their size to attract users and, perhaps even unintentionally, effectively block others from implementing the idea or scare others away (a size thing). Then, if they decide they don't like it, which can feel arbitrary, they pull out. Now the idea is tainted so others are less likely to implement it and users are left wondering what to do. They really seem like a bull in a china shop sometimes.

I like the innovation and the experimentation, but it seems like they could be more graceful about it for both users and other entities trying the same things. Perhaps they should try these experiments in a more stealth way? Pretend not to be Google? Of course, people might super-hate on them for that, huh?

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#115

Post by evmar »

xroche wrote: post #9

RIP Google Code Search, aka the best code search ever. No credible competitor has yet emerged, and this is a real loss for all programmers: no more easy searching for sample code in obscure WIN32 Api, easy searching for arch-specific POSIX implementation details used by various open source projects, global error message grepping, and countless other little things which are not incredibly painful and difficult. I am s…

Debian code search is the closest replacement I've found, though it doesn't really compare:

https://codesearch.debian.net/

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#117

Post by und3rw4t3rp00ps »

eplanit wrote: post #67
und3rw4t3rp00ps wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me, this is evidence of Google's rather awkward relationship with consumers (i.e. they toss tons of branded endeavors at us, see what sticks), and not a knock against fearlessly trying things or whatever. The best brands are coy and careful with their identity... google sorta slops it around. this is a list of failed consumer facing products more than it is a list of "bad ideas".

I don't really see how it is awkward or hurts relationships with consumers (especially when most all products and services are free) -- it's a form of market research and product testing. Who needs focus groups when you have the world?

I think focus groups are inherently embarrassing. Not commenting on their utility, but the act of showcasing something to "normal people" for their "feedback" is, at its essence, pathetic.

While Google's 'everything in beta' mentality is endearing in a 'democracy'/'transparent fun-loving engineers' sort of way... it is also evidence to the fact that our information behemoth is rudderless.

Google Buzz.

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#118

Post by livingparadox »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #105
gk1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add one more: Writely became Google Docs -- anything but a failure.

Hm yet its leaky, buggy and low-feature. Useful for casual use but nowhere near professional. When will they drop it, or break it? Like some gmail features got broken this week. Lesson: don't hang anything important on Google apps.

Google docs is fantastic. I use it exclusively (docs and sheets) and haven't seen anything buggy about it. I have never found myself a wanting a feature in google docs that wasn't also missing from Office. The only limitation I came across in sheets was the limited scope of conditional formatting. That's pretty much it.

Re: Google Memorial: the small museum of projects abandoned by Google

#119

Post by mrec »

SuperKlaus wrote: post #87

Can't believe nobody mentioned Google Reader yet - that was such a great product and they killed it, still haven't found anything that comes close (and I'm paying for a theoldreader.com subscription, they're good but no Google Reader).

I tried half a dozen replacements after the Readerpocalyse and finally settled on https://kouio.com/ - been very happy with it ever since. The only real gripe I have is the lack of sane sidebar feed list ordering by default.

I wish they'd start charging for it.

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