As a startup founder I'm happy to see financially successful exits. But as a user I have to wonder whether the software I like is a mere byproduct of an elaborate job application process.
Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
91–100 of 103 posts
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#92Price?
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#93Now you have an idea for your startup. A cool application was just killed and you can replace it.
This actually is the idea I've been working towards for the last couple of months.
The backend is mostly sorted, but it would take another month or so to get a working product out the door.
Does HN think this is still a viable idea if the Big G has entered the game as well?
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#94Now you have an idea for your startup. A cool application was just killed and you can replace it.
This actually is the idea I've been working towards for the last couple of months. The backend is mostly sorted, but it would take another month or so to get a working product out the door. Does HN think this is still a viable idea if the Big G has entered the game as well?
Sure, the Big G didn't entered the game, forced the exit of the best player instead.
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#95Well, that sucks. I was psyched when I first read the subject, since I figured they'd be lending Google Docs their awesome text editor. Instead they're going to Google Wave, where the interface blows. Etherpad's lightyears more useful, more flexible, and more valuable. Blah.
Don't conflate Wave-the-framework with Wave-the-product. A lot of time and effort were spent on Wave-the-framework, whereas Wave-the-product feels like a first cut demo. I assume that Wave-the-product will go through a number of revisions that will be more Docs like, and I expect EtherPad to be a part of that.
What is 'wave the framework'? We've had XMPP for 10 years. And it still hasn't really taken off.
Frameworks are pretty useless unless you have a killer app built on it.
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't conflate Wave-the-framework with Wave-the-product. A lot of time and effort were spent on Wave-the-framework, whereas Wave-the-product feels like a first cut demo. I assume that Wave-the-product will go through a number of revisions that will be more Docs like, and I expect EtherPad to be a part of that.
What is 'wave the framework'? We've had XMPP for 10 years. And it still hasn't really taken off. Frameworks are pretty useless unless you have a killer app built on it.
Again, product versus framework. XMPP as a communications framework has decent adoption, a number of open source servers and clients libraries in different languages. Jabber has limited adoption because its competing in a network-effect field. GoogleTalk is probably the most popular use of XMPP.
But, the meat of Wave isn't XMPP, its the combination of Operational Transforms on a federated XMPP layer with a web interface. Each of these features is equally important, so don't overlook them. OT makes collaboration easy, the web interface is the easiest user experience, and XMPP lets you scale the backend.
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#97Well, that sucks. I was psyched when I first read the subject, since I figured they'd be lending Google Docs their awesome text editor. Instead they're going to Google Wave, where the interface blows. Etherpad's lightyears more useful, more flexible, and more valuable. Blah.
The Etherpads themselves were very impressed with what the Wave guys showed them, and they are the best qualified to judge this sort of technology of all the hackers I know. Maybe some of the stuff they saw was unreleased, but whatever it was was, the Etherpads liked it, and they seem genuinely excited to work on it.
It seems understandable that both buyers and sellers are pleased with the transaction, after all, they both agreed to it. It doesn't really address the OP's (however direct) 'that sucks' comment.
Any early-adopter of a start-up product accepts the risk that the company behind the product might be unsuccessful. Customers like that bet, in part, on the notion that despite the statistically long odds, the company is making every conceivable effort to stay alive and succeed.
The 'buyout-and-the-product-dies'-type exit introduces a sort of divided loyalty and misalignment between the goals of the founders and the goals of their customers - if you're unsuccessful you might fail and we might suffer an abrupt service termination but at the same time, if you're quite successful, we might also suffer an abrupt service termination.
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#98Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is 'wave the framework'? We've had XMPP for 10 years. And it still hasn't really taken off. Frameworks are pretty useless unless you have a killer app built on it.
Again, product versus framework. XMPP as a communications framework has decent adoption, a number of open source servers and clients libraries in different languages. Jabber has limited adoption because its competing in a network-effect field. GoogleTalk is probably the most popular use of XMPP. But, the meat of Wave isn't XMPP, its the combination of Operational Transforms on a federated XMPP layer with a web interf…
>> "combination of Operational Transforms on a federated XMPP layer with a web interface."
This is why I hate XMPP. Over-engineered to the point of absurdity.
Re: Google acquires AppJet/Etherpad
#100Fuck this. Part of starting new things is to disrupt the status quo. At this point google is the status quo and they are not disrupting anything so the EtherPad guys are just douchebag sellouts.