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I downvoted this comment, because the general "Google shuts things down" narrative remains. Companies invested real money in integrating Google's existing servi
by tuna-piano 9y ago
I downvoted this comment, because the general "Google shuts things down" narrative remains. Companies invested real money in integrating Google's existing services.
If Google's New API is so easy to switch to, and companies will get value from the switch, then they would do it automatically.
The truth is that the old API probably worked perfectly fine for some companies, who are now forced to spend time and money migrating.
If you were a purchasing manager in the IT department if a midwestern manufacturing (for example) company, wouldn't this kind of service shut down scare you?
AWS seems to support their services forever. That's what Midwestern manufacturing-type companies want. Hopefully Google will learn this, so AWS will have legitimate competitors.
- donald123 9y agoI would find alternative from other companies instead migrating to their new API. Who can be sure they are not gonna have the same forceful migration in next year, next 2 years ,etc.?
- ben_jones 9y agoDespite generally disagreeing with the comment I upvoted the parent because I think it provides an important counterpoint to the discussion. I think it's too common to make lazy assumptions and not even read the article when it comes to a stereotype (true or not) such as Google's countless EOL'd services. And personally I feel like Google's endgame isn't to provide the best consumer/enterprise cloud services a la AWS. They're just subsidizing their own endeavors in mass computing with presumably a tidy profit on the side. They can afford to alienate a customer here and there because they don't need a customer here and there. Which is an entirely rational thing to do for a corporation.
- devoply 9y agoBut there are other options that are available for the customer is not really much of a counter point, as there are almost always other options available. People dislike shutdowns because they have invested time and resources in implementing something. Now they have to spend the same if not more time again. This has a cost involved. How much work is created in our cultures because of the disposable nature of everything. Businesses use efficiency as an excuse of squeeze every last dollar out of workers. Yet on the other end the system is exactly the opposite of efficient.
- blazespin 9y agoEveryone deprecates APIs in favor of more evolved ones. It's pretty standard. If they didn't, innovation would falter. If Google was shutting down the capability of doing something, like reader, that would be a different issue.
- cwyers 9y agoThere's a rather long discussion in this very thread about how AWS doesn't.