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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

#11

Post by drivebyacct2 »

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 touch on that aspect)

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#13

Post by mooreds »

ishansharma wrote: post #9

I fully agree with Om here. In fact, I have found myself avoiding Google services as much as possible now. GMail is the only one I am using regularly and which does not have good alternatives. I also agree that Google is becoming like Microsoft, trying everything. I'm going to stay with companies like Evernote.

And the nice thing about gmail is that, if you had to move off of it, you could (as long as they keep the imap interface around: http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/417/export-gmail-... ).

There may be no feature complete alternatives, but there sure are a lot of email readers out there if you had to move off of it.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#15

Post by mgkimsal »

jinushaun wrote: post #7

Anyone else remember Google Notebook? Yeah, they killed that too. Pretty much Evernote before Evernote got big. No thanks, Google.

Yeah, notebook was one of the first times I was seriously starting to use a 3rd party service, then it was yanked. And now it's back, as 'keep'. And in 2-3 years it'll be gone again. And Reader will be back as some 'feature' in Google Drive (or it'll be called 'Docs' again, or still remain as 'Docs' as some of the google drive/docs pages still point out).

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#16

Post by MatthewPhillips »

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…

How is Now strategic?

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#17

Post by saidajigumi »

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.

Removing or fundamentally disabling a service that many people depend upon is qualitatively different from merely removing a feature.

Google dropping Reader has potential impact more like Yahoo!'s debacle with the Delicious relaunch. That change was so drastic that it was effectively a data-loss event for most users, obliterating years of carefully curated data. As Om points out, such actions are very destructive of brand trust. That's a risky position for any online services company to voluntarily put itself in.

FWIW, Evernote has removed significant features (esp. regarding Skitch) and gotten quite a bit of heat over it.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#18

Post by niggler »

dudus wrote: post #12

Google Reader had an easy and clear migration path to export your data. I can't understand why people keep bashing Google for it. Just take your data to somewhere else. If tomorrow Keep goes away they'll do the same.

Some people were/are emotionally invested in Reader, and to an extent it was so good that many people were dissuaded from building a better RSS reader.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#19

Post by mattmaroon »

mooreds wrote: post #13
ishansharma wrote: post #9

I fully agree with Om here. In fact, I have found myself avoiding Google services as much as possible now. GMail is the only one I am using regularly and which does not have good alternatives. I also agree that Google is becoming like Microsoft, trying everything. I'm going to stay with companies like Evernote.

And the nice thing about gmail is that, if you had to move off of it, you could (as long as they keep the imap interface around: http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/417/export-gmail-... ). There may be no feature complete alternatives, but there sure are a lot of email readers out there if you had to move off of it.

Seems far easier to move from Google Reader to an alternative than that, and yet look at the amount of bitching.

Re: Sorry Google; you can Keep it to yourself

#20

Post by benbeltran »

mooreds wrote: post #13
ishansharma wrote: post #9

I fully agree with Om here. In fact, I have found myself avoiding Google services as much as possible now. GMail is the only one I am using regularly and which does not have good alternatives. I also agree that Google is becoming like Microsoft, trying everything. I'm going to stay with companies like Evernote.

And the nice thing about gmail is that, if you had to move off of it, you could (as long as they keep the imap interface around: http://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/417/export-gmail-... ). There may be no feature complete alternatives, but there sure are a lot of email readers out there if you had to move off of it.

As you do with google reader. You can fully export your feeds and move elsewhere. At /least/ they're letting you keep your data. I'm not saying it didn't feel like a dick move... but at least they make it easy to move away. I already switched to another reader and I'm getting more used to it every day. We may be emotionally attached, but the world moves on. How many of these small companies you give money to give you the freedom to download your data?
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