Google Kills Wave • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Kills Wave

#241

Post by todayiamme » Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 10:31 AM UTC

tc wrote: post #12

Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. Did Google believe that this was going to succeed as a consumer product, à la Facebook? Wave, as it exists today, is a great tool for corporate communications. With the right interfaces, integration, and extensions it could definitely displace Exchange and Lotus Notes. Eventually, as a protocol, it had the potential to transcend email. Maybe Google just hoped W…

I think that there is another variable at play over here. Google needs to prove to Wall Street that they are a "serious" company. They have received a lot of rubs over their engineering culture from investors, and business onlookers. I've read people write stuff like " when did you last 'wave' someone?" etc. If for some reason Google faces a lean time, then such practices will be viewed as an excess by them and it will deprecate their evaluation.

So, what could appease almighty Wall Street better than this signal that Google is willing to kill a product, no matter how exciting, if it doesn't meet its bottom line?

In a way this is a really clever compromise, but taking such decisions may in fact hurt Google in the longer run by diluting its culture. Sometimes, the most promising of technologies is not economically promising in the shorter run, but who'll explain this to Wall Street?

Re: Google Kills Wave

#242

Post by PanMan » Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 10:51 AM UTC

daok wrote: post #222

PanMan wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While that sounds great, according to http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(+microsoft+profit+)+/+... it's actually 51 million/day. So it took them a full week to make the 250 million. Or was yesterday special?

He was ironic. I am always fascinated to see people that do not understand that kind of humor.

To be ironic, you should have said 250 billion :).

Re: Google Kills Wave

#243

Post by lakeeffect » Fri, Aug 06, 2010, 5:06 PM UTC

I think adobe connect is the way to go, as far as corporate collaboration tools.

Re: Google Kills Wave

#244

Post by pgbovine » Sat, Aug 07, 2010, 4:43 PM UTC

jacoblyles wrote: post #136

pgbovine wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

who as I understand it, sold AppJet to Google to work on Google Wave somehow i don't think they need your sympathies ... they probably got a decent amount of money from their acquisition, so they're probably not crying right now ;)

What's cooler: 1) a smallish hunk of cash 2) a thriving enterprise built around your vision for improving how people communicate The Etherpad sellout was, and is, the most disappointing acquisition I can remember.

1) a smallish hunk of cash

i dunno how much they each got in the acquisition, but i doubt it was 'smallish'. it wasn't like they sold some artwork online for $30.

Re: Google Kills Wave

#245

Post by peregrine » Sat, Aug 14, 2010, 5:03 AM UTC

param wrote: post #59

peregrine wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google docs is very similar to what etherpad used to be. All be it far less user friendly you can watch others edit and update in real time.

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/albeit.html

Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: Google Kills Wave

#246

Post by jmulho » Fri, Sep 17, 2010, 2:43 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #8

That didn't take very long now did it? I never even got around to checking it out. Aren't they afraid that the next product they announce in this fashion will be met with some scepticism from potential early adopters, who might think 'I'll wait for a bit to see if it stays', which in turn will lead to a cycle where it gets harder and harder for google to release new stuff and get it adopted? edit: would be nice if th…

They yanked it way before it had any chance of succeeding. I wanted to use it and didn't get the chance before they yanked it. I saw the video in early 2009, thought it looked awesome. The website said it would be available to the public "by the end of the year", or something. I kept checking back. It wasn't available, even in early 2010. Finally, in June 2010, I noticed it was available. I signed up. I didn't have anybody to Wave with (so sad). Then a few weeks ago, I needed to collaborate with a friend on a project. I told them to sign up for Google Wave. My friend said "didn't they cancel that?"