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Google has already pulled six products in 2023

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Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#261

Post by iLoveOncall »

userbinator wrote: post #232
iLoveOncall wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is the expectation for every single cloud-connected item or online product that the servers remain online ad vitam aeternam so that future archeologists can still use the item when it's rediscovered and restored in 10,000 years? You just have the wrong expectation for online products.

At least they could just release the server-side code when they've had enough, but they don't even want to do that.

Have you ever written software in a company as large as Google? I have. It would need massive investments to make a server usable outside of the environment it was originally written for. It's just not viable.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#262

Post by layer8 »

fancl20 wrote: post #105
jiggawatts wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd do it for $300K! Anyone from Google want to check my post history and reach out to someone able and willing to do boring maintenance?

Part of the problem is when you are in that position it’s also easy to move to other interesting projects internally. Then the real choice is between doing boring maintenance or useful new things at same pay.

Maintenance doesn’t need to be boring, and I also don’t see how you wouldn’t add interesting new features and improvements to existing products.

The basic issue, it seems, is that the higher-ups simply don’t care about the products themselves, other than for them to serve as a profit center.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#263

Post by eecc »

Fine, let them destroy their brand altight; but "landfilling" perfectly good hardware for no other reason other than "we can't be bothered" should be made illegal and severely punished. This is the mindset that brought us to blow 420 ppm, and it needs to stop.

Apple abandoned AirPort access points 5 years ago in 2018, and still got security updates a year later. Dammit!

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#264

Post by scarface74 »

londons_explore wrote: post #100
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Half of this list is side projects which didn't work out, which is understandable to a certain degree What happens to the people who bet on them? Do they even have a point of contact if e.g. an integration breaks? That’s the point. They’re half-baked products being put out and pulled with no care in the world. That’s the brand. Which means when a Stadia comes out, a product that could have worked if people trusted…

They really just need clear branding between "This is a side project, we might take it away with just a months notice" and "This is a product we will give you many years notice and a migration path if we decide to get rid of it". I think they should label everything in the former category "experimental". Put the label right in the logo so it is really obvious.

That won’t help. How is the general audience suppose to know the difference between “experimental” and “beta”?

Maybe it’s important that they act like a grown up company and have some focus instead of throwing random shit up against the wall like apes in a zoo on a crack.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#265

Post by brookst »

detourdog wrote: post #176
simonswords82 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think both things are true. Googles results got stagnant and Google overall was complacent. ChatGPT is capitalising on this.

I'm just trying to emphasize that most people only care about results. I think it minimizes Google's problems to think it is some technical stack problem. The problem is that Google has a disconnect with some quanity of users on what good search results look like. If Google and the users can't agree on the correct search results... Who is wrong the person doing the searching or google?

User: good search results mean I get the answer I’m looking for within seconds of clicking the top organic result.

Google: good search results mean the user clicks on an ad this time but the results look plausible enough they’ll come back for their next search.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#266

Post by mztwo »

Google is where projects go to die. Several friends who have joined via M&A have shared they had little expectations of seeing their babies continue in any way, shape of form after purchase by Google.

While I don't know this founder, his excellent writeup summarizes my understanding of the culture w/r/t innovation: https://medium.com/@pravse/the-maze-is-in-the-mouse-980c57cf...

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#267

Post by ajsnigrutin »

lolinder wrote: post #254
londons_explore wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They really just need clear branding between "This is a side project, we might take it away with just a months notice" and "This is a product we will give you many years notice and a migration path if we decide to get rid of it". I think they should label everything in the former category "experimental". Put the label right in the logo so it is really obvious.

I honestly think that a lot of these side projects should be released under a different brand name. Kind of like how GM has different brands for their luxury cars, or Disney had Touchstone Pictures for their less-child-friendly movies. If a project is one employee's 20% time or one manager's promotion project, it should be released under a different brand name. It can always be rebranded if it becomes an actual busin…

They could just use some google name that clearly implies it's not a "main" (long-term) product, eg. "Google Labs", "Google Beta", etc. too, so you clearly know that it's a "toy" that might not exist anymore very soon. If they use eg. "Aviato" brand for some new product, people will expect more... and then get burned.. again.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#268

Post by brookst »

baryphonic wrote: post #127
LeBit wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Search is in great perils because of ChatGPT.

I keep seeing this – it's a meme at this point – and I don't get it. Answering questions truthfully from a broad set of data while citing sources seems to be ChatGPT's major weakness. It routinely "hallucinates," even with better prompting. It's much better at helping generate prose based on the prompt. I don't even buy the idea that "exponential growth" will improve things. One of the few things OpenAI is still open…

Gpt4 is much more accurate than gpt3.5, which was somewhat more accurate than gpt3, which was dramatically more accurate than gpt2.

At some point you have to look at trends more than philosophical speculation.

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#269

Post by [deleted] »

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #267
lolinder wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly think that a lot of these side projects should be released under a different brand name. Kind of like how GM has different brands for their luxury cars, or Disney had Touchstone Pictures for their less-child-friendly movies. If a project is one employee's 20% time or one manager's promotion project, it should be released under a different brand name. It can always be rebranded if it becomes an actual busin…

They could just use some google name that clearly implies it's not a "main" (long-term) product, eg. "Google Labs", "Google Beta", etc. too, so you clearly know that it's a "toy" that might not exist anymore very soon. If they use eg. "Aviato" brand for some new product, people will expect more... and then get burned.. again.

[deleted]

Re: Google has already pulled six products in 2023

#270

Post by dgellow »

bigyikes wrote: post #6

Surely the people working at Google understand how all these shutdowns look to outsiders, right? I have to imagine so… they’re smart people, and a ton of them lurk here on HN. It’s interesting to me that they continue to spawn and nix products like this despite the reputation damage it causes. Anyone wanna bet on if/when Bard gets axed?

Something I never understood is why not create new products under a different brand name (something not Google associated), try the idea out, and they end up working move them under the Google brand. I feel that would allow the company to continue to experiment with product ideas without damaging their main brand image. Or is that just a naïve take from somewhere who knows nothing about branding and marketing?
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