7 ms·

I'm at the point that I don't even try new Google products because I don't trust that they will stay around. I got burned too many times: Wave, Knol, Google H

by ohto 10y ago

I'm at the point that I don't even try new Google products because I don't trust that they will stay around. I got burned too many times: Wave, Knol, Google Health, Buzz, Notebook, Answers, and most importantly Google Reader. There is just no way I'm investing time in any new Google product. They are untrustworthy. For instance, why on earth would I want to use Allo when still Hangouts exists? We know one or both will get cancelled within a year or two. I'm not going to sick my neck out and try to get my friends and family to use one of those platforms only for them to go away.

wmccullough 10y ago
Came here to say just this. At this point the only thing I really use from them is Search and Gmail. I just dont trust that anything else will stick around.
- sdegutis 10y ago
  Also Maps.
  - AlecSchueler 10y ago
    and YouTube.
    - caoilte 10y ago
      And droid.
      - throw_away 10y ago
        "All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"
        fuck_google 10y ago
        Organized crime, war, politics and corruption?
      - jaredsohn 10y ago
        and Chrome
        hooluupog 10y ago
        and Photos
        nih 10y ago
        What has google ever done for us?
    - DashRattlesnake 10y ago
      Mockery aside, the rule "don't rely on Google products unless they're utterly dominant" is a good one.
      - btown 10y ago
        Well, Reader was the dominant RSS reader...
        sdegutis 10y ago
        Then maybe it should be: "Don't rely on Google products unless they're utterly dominant and necessities." Maps, email, search, are all needed in modern life. RSS readers lost out to Twitter & Facebook years ago.
    - dotancohen 10y ago
      And adsense. Well, I guess the adsense goes without saying. But what else has Gooogle ever done for us?
  - stevesun21 10y ago
    Map is not stable. Especially as you use it to navigate. I just almost park my car on the highway beside the Hiton hotel I want to check in!
_wmd 10y ago
Same here, only new thing I touched in 4 years has been GCP, and only then to discover I couldn't use it due to a ridiculous and completely undocumented embargo they implement for users in some countries. Same old Google crap ignoring or failing to understand the customer "Let's use Hangouts" "Sorry what's that?" "Google's screen sharing" "Just use Skype" "Ok" Don't forget after investing the entire company into Plus and failing to gain traction, they pulled the rug out from underneath the whole thing. I'm told similar internal focus is now applied to GCP, doesn't mean I wouldn't expect the compny to just one day say "bah, fuck it, we couldn't dominate that, turns out people require something from us beyond engineering, so I'm not playing because I haven't a clue how to do that" again
- kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
  > Same old Google crap ignoring or failing to understand the customer You are the product, not a customer.
  - lallysingh 10y ago
    That post is about Google cloud, where you're a paying customer and you're not shown ads.
    - pzh 10y ago
      Maybe they can offer Google Cloud entirely running on ads, where they inject them at the load balancer. That way they won't have to deal with customer support.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - pzh 10y ago
        Why are you downvoting? This is how search works and it's not like Comcast hasn't tried the other technique either. https://www.google.com/amp/www.infoworld.com/article/2925839/net-neutrality/code-injection-new-low-isps.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/www.infoworld.com/article/2925839...
caub 10y ago
I think it's healthy that non-successful product get shut down
- fuck_google 10y ago
  I think it would be healthy that Google would stop pushing out crap without long-term commitment. "Fail fast" mantra is no excuse to not do proper product management for a company of that size. I think they just aren't very good at it.
- Karunamon 10y ago
  I think non-successful isn't the metric Google is using, else Reader would still be around.
  - derscheister 10y ago
    You live in a fucking bubble if you really think thats the case.
alvil 10y ago
Can't agree more.
UseStrict 10y ago
I'm the same way, no reason to trust that any of their new products will stick around. I only use their most common products: Calendar, Mail, Maps, and Search. I don't want to have to invest in migrating platforms every year or two.
laserDinosaur 10y ago
I started using Google Inbox for a while, but never got seriously invested in it other than a novelty (despite really liking the interface). I just know it's only a matter of time before it gets killed off and I'll be back to Gmail anyway.
- googler88 10y ago
  This is closer to the truth then you know. There is an internal ongoing effort to merge the few useful features that only exist in Inbox, like snooze, into the GMail codebase. If your inside of the Google network go/bye-inbox has all the information. Disclaimer: I work for Google and joined Team Sabotage a year ago to cause as much damage to the company as possible.
  - GioM 10y ago
    Wait what? Can you comment at all on what that 'team' is?
- candiodari 10y ago
  I'm more scared that it'll be gmail that'll get killed off in favor of inbox.
bane 10y ago
The only new google service I've signed up for in the last few years was Project Fi, and that's simply because it wouldn't be a nightmare to move my number back to another carrier if Google just decided they got bored with it.
- oedenfield 10y ago
  I use (and like) Project Fi as well. Porting a number and/or taking the unlocked phone to an AT&T or T-Mobile store was also why I went with it. Do I honestly expect Project Fi to be around in 2 years? No.
  - pasbesoin 10y ago
    Unless they come up with a comparable "unlimited" plan, this year's (re-)launch of these by the major U.S. carriers is probably one of the final nails in the coffin. Non-technical low-cost people probably aren't going to find Fi, and "power users" are going to go for unlimited, especially as data use climbs. And... I doubt Google will keep Fi around to support a bunch of low-cost, "minimal" users. Where's the money ("new Google") and what's to learn ("old Google")? Sigh. And just as the T-Mobile network (and Fi comes also with Sprint) was starting to look broad enough to warrant moving away from Verizon. Well, as others have said, who believed it was going to last? For my own Google use -- which for me doesn't currently include advertising/marketing -- I've basically drawn the line at the "traditional" Google office apps. As far as I know, they still dogfood those, internally. Anything newer? Not worth any long-term investment / lock-in. If I return to doing some web sites (a few people want me to, currently), I'll look into whatever are the current best practices for indexing high and being appropriately exposed on Maps and the like. Oh, and, by the way, Site Search, just the other day? Really? You're already indexing it, Google? What does killing off this mildly customized search entry point save you?
djsumdog 10y ago
Google Reader getting shut down was a good thing. After I moved to other RSS readers, I realized just how terrible Google Reader was. It wouldn't give you alerts if a feed started to 404 among other bugs and quirks.
tajen 10y ago
Why use Skype or Google Hangouts when there is https://appear.in https://appear.in ? No login, no central server, no app to install, just screen sharing, audio and video...
- drdeadringer 10y ago
  For me it's because this is the first time I've heard of it. Thanks!
drdeadringer 10y ago
If user usage is any factor in these product shutdowns, I wonder if Google has created a negative feedback loop on such a variable. Users won't try it knowing or highly suspecting the product will be cancelled in 2 years, and in 2 years Google cancels the product because there are no users.
Gustomaximus 10y ago
I feel a good middle ground for Google would be to make a rule when they close a product, where possible, they hand it off. They can announce they are closing and look for people to take over product, the best team vs not some 'for sale' situation. While it would add some additional work it would keep peoples faith in trying google products and we' likely see some cool success stories of the back of their startup efforts.
jboggan 10y ago
It's laughably common that Googlers don't know about a product that they themselves would be interested in using until they see external news about the product being cancelled. It's pretty demoralizing. We are the biggest evangelists for the products because we are proud of our co-workers and Google. But it gets harder and harder to evangelize to our friends and family when things are so quickly withdrawn. Hopefully the Spaces team got their promotions out of the launch. My advice to people making these kinds of decisions at any company of any size: when sunsetting a project (not just putting it into maintenance mode) consider the real cost to internal morale and to brand equity.
rabboRubble 10y ago
I still hold a massive grudge about Google Reader. That single retreat caused me to reduce my Google services usage, a habit that I continue to this day. Maybe once a year, I check Google Takeout services to see what I've used, then go on a deleting spree. I hope at some point outlook.com matures to a point where I can abandon Gmail.

by ohto 10y ago

wmccullough 10y ago

Came here to say just this. At this point the only thing I really use from them is Search and Gmail. I just dont trust that anything else will stick around.

sdegutis 10y ago
Also Maps.
- AlecSchueler 10y ago
  and YouTube.
  - caoilte 10y ago
    And droid.
    - throw_away 10y ago
      "All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"
      - fuck_google 10y ago
        Organized crime, war, politics and corruption?
    - jaredsohn 10y ago
      and Chrome
      - hooluupog 10y ago
        and Photos
        nih 10y ago
        What has google ever done for us?
  - DashRattlesnake 10y ago
    Mockery aside, the rule "don't rely on Google products unless they're utterly dominant" is a good one.
    - btown 10y ago
      Well, Reader was the dominant RSS reader...
      - sdegutis 10y ago
        Then maybe it should be: "Don't rely on Google products unless they're utterly dominant and necessities." Maps, email, search, are all needed in modern life. RSS readers lost out to Twitter & Facebook years ago.
  - dotancohen 10y ago
    And adsense. Well, I guess the adsense goes without saying. But what else has Gooogle ever done for us?
- stevesun21 10y ago
  Map is not stable. Especially as you use it to navigate. I just almost park my car on the highway beside the Hiton hotel I want to check in!

_wmd 10y ago

Same here, only new thing I touched in 4 years has been GCP, and only then to discover I couldn't use it due to a ridiculous and completely undocumented embargo they implement for users in some countries. Same old Google crap ignoring or failing to understand the customer "Let's use Hangouts" "Sorry what's that?" "Google's screen sharing" "Just use Skype" "Ok" Don't forget after investing the entire company into Plus and failing to gain traction, they pulled the rug out from underneath the whole thing. I'm told similar internal focus is now applied to GCP, doesn't mean I wouldn't expect the compny to just one day say "bah, fuck it, we couldn't dominate that, turns out people require something from us beyond engineering, so I'm not playing because I haven't a clue how to do that" again

kevin_thibedeau 10y ago
> Same old Google crap ignoring or failing to understand the customer You are the product, not a customer.
- lallysingh 10y ago
  That post is about Google cloud, where you're a paying customer and you're not shown ads.
  - pzh 10y ago
    Maybe they can offer Google Cloud entirely running on ads, where they inject them at the load balancer. That way they won't have to deal with customer support.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - pzh 10y ago
      Why are you downvoting? This is how search works and it's not like Comcast hasn't tried the other technique either. https://www.google.com/amp/www.infoworld.com/article/2925839/net-neutrality/code-injection-new-low-isps.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/www.infoworld.com/article/2925839...

caub 10y ago

I think it's healthy that non-successful product get shut down

fuck_google 10y ago
I think it would be healthy that Google would stop pushing out crap without long-term commitment. "Fail fast" mantra is no excuse to not do proper product management for a company of that size. I think they just aren't very good at it.
Karunamon 10y ago
I think non-successful isn't the metric Google is using, else Reader would still be around.
- derscheister 10y ago
  You live in a fucking bubble if you really think thats the case.

alvil 10y ago

Can't agree more.

UseStrict 10y ago

I'm the same way, no reason to trust that any of their new products will stick around. I only use their most common products: Calendar, Mail, Maps, and Search. I don't want to have to invest in migrating platforms every year or two.

laserDinosaur 10y ago

I started using Google Inbox for a while, but never got seriously invested in it other than a novelty (despite really liking the interface). I just know it's only a matter of time before it gets killed off and I'll be back to Gmail anyway.

googler88 10y ago
This is closer to the truth then you know. There is an internal ongoing effort to merge the few useful features that only exist in Inbox, like snooze, into the GMail codebase. If your inside of the Google network go/bye-inbox has all the information. Disclaimer: I work for Google and joined Team Sabotage a year ago to cause as much damage to the company as possible.
- GioM 10y ago
  Wait what? Can you comment at all on what that 'team' is?
candiodari 10y ago
I'm more scared that it'll be gmail that'll get killed off in favor of inbox.

bane 10y ago

The only new google service I've signed up for in the last few years was Project Fi, and that's simply because it wouldn't be a nightmare to move my number back to another carrier if Google just decided they got bored with it.

oedenfield 10y ago
I use (and like) Project Fi as well. Porting a number and/or taking the unlocked phone to an AT&T or T-Mobile store was also why I went with it. Do I honestly expect Project Fi to be around in 2 years? No.
- pasbesoin 10y ago
  Unless they come up with a comparable "unlimited" plan, this year's (re-)launch of these by the major U.S. carriers is probably one of the final nails in the coffin. Non-technical low-cost people probably aren't going to find Fi, and "power users" are going to go for unlimited, especially as data use climbs. And... I doubt Google will keep Fi around to support a bunch of low-cost, "minimal" users. Where's the money ("new Google") and what's to learn ("old Google")? Sigh. And just as the T-Mobile network (and Fi comes also with Sprint) was starting to look broad enough to warrant moving away from Verizon. Well, as others have said, who believed it was going to last? For my own Google use -- which for me doesn't currently include advertising/marketing -- I've basically drawn the line at the "traditional" Google office apps. As far as I know, they still dogfood those, internally. Anything newer? Not worth any long-term investment / lock-in. If I return to doing some web sites (a few people want me to, currently), I'll look into whatever are the current best practices for indexing high and being appropriately exposed on Maps and the like. Oh, and, by the way, Site Search, just the other day? Really? You're already indexing it, Google? What does killing off this mildly customized search entry point save you?

djsumdog 10y ago

Google Reader getting shut down was a good thing. After I moved to other RSS readers, I realized just how terrible Google Reader was. It wouldn't give you alerts if a feed started to 404 among other bugs and quirks.

tajen 10y ago

Why use Skype or Google Hangouts when there is https://appear.in https://appear.in ? No login, no central server, no app to install, just screen sharing, audio and video...

drdeadringer 10y ago
For me it's because this is the first time I've heard of it. Thanks!

drdeadringer 10y ago

If user usage is any factor in these product shutdowns, I wonder if Google has created a negative feedback loop on such a variable. Users won't try it knowing or highly suspecting the product will be cancelled in 2 years, and in 2 years Google cancels the product because there are no users.

Gustomaximus 10y ago

I feel a good middle ground for Google would be to make a rule when they close a product, where possible, they hand it off. They can announce they are closing and look for people to take over product, the best team vs not some 'for sale' situation. While it would add some additional work it would keep peoples faith in trying google products and we' likely see some cool success stories of the back of their startup efforts.

jboggan 10y ago

It's laughably common that Googlers don't know about a product that they themselves would be interested in using until they see external news about the product being cancelled. It's pretty demoralizing. We are the biggest evangelists for the products because we are proud of our co-workers and Google. But it gets harder and harder to evangelize to our friends and family when things are so quickly withdrawn. Hopefully the Spaces team got their promotions out of the launch. My advice to people making these kinds of decisions at any company of any size: when sunsetting a project (not just putting it into maintenance mode) consider the real cost to internal morale and to brand equity.

rabboRubble 10y ago

I still hold a massive grudge about Google Reader. That single retreat caused me to reduce my Google services usage, a habit that I continue to this day. Maybe once a year, I check Google Takeout services to see what I've used, then go on a deleting spree. I hope at some point outlook.com matures to a point where I can abandon Gmail.