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So this gives people the opportunity to try Google products... ...that are even more likely to to be cancelled without warning than normal Google products? I'

by Lazare 9y ago

So this gives people the opportunity to try Google products... ...that are even more likely to to be cancelled without warning than normal Google products? I'm positively quivering with anticipation.

paulddraper 9y ago
I liked Gmail labs' stuff. And some of it got incorporated into Gmail proper (and later inbox). I for one was grateful for the "experimental" things I got the opportunity to use, e.g. cancel after send.
- Lazare 9y ago
  The thing about Gmail labs is they are (mostly) extra features that you could use or not, and which didn't leave you worse off than if you'd never used them if you started and then they were killed off Fully fledged products have more risk. And I've felt burned by multiple Google products in the past. Let's say the first product announced by Area 120 turns out to be a great new chat app. Would you recommend your friends all download it and start using it? :) Edit: Confused Google Labs and Gmail labs, my bad. Removed nonsensical comment.
  - tempestn 9y ago
    Are you speaking of labs being killed off in the hypothetical? As far as I can tell, it's still there...
    - Lazare 9y ago
      I was thinking of Google Labs I guess, brain fart. Edited my comment. :(
  - hrrsn 9y ago
    >Let's say the first product announced by Area 120 turns out to be a great new chat app. That's exactly what Google has been missing all these years: a chat app.
pvg 9y ago
That's turning into the Google version of what one of the mods here called 'Wolfram derangement syndrome'. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10978871 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10978871 Yes Google cancels stuff (usually not without warning). Experimental stuff? Even more likely to go nowhere, just as it says on the page. The response is, by this point, completely content-free.
- sgustard 9y ago
  Yes, this has become an HN meme/trope. The other one illustrated here is "what's up with web page design trends where I can't read the text or scroll properly?"
bitmapbrother 9y ago
Just curious, do you post the same response when Microsoft announces products or services? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Microsoft_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Microsof... You can also add these to the list: Wunderlist Sunset Games for Windows Silverlight Zune Kin XNA PlaysForSure Flight Sim Expression Suite SteadyState Windows RT Windows Phone 7 Forefront Front Page Money Or Apple? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_discontinued_by_Apple_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_discontinued_....
- new299 9y ago
  The difference between web services that Google provides and almost everything in both those lists is: 1) When a web service goes away, you can't keep using the old version that's installed on your PC/hardware you own. 2) In the vast majority of cases the products were not cancelled before the introduction of a replacement. Notable exceptions might include the Newton. And yes, it would probably quite normal to mention the Newton when a similar product was launched (i.e. the original iPhone) and may people did.
  - bitmapbrother 9y ago
    Microsoft has also cancelled services so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it sound any different. I have Steam games that have no online support anymore because Microsoft cancelled yet another Steam competitor service. I've lost track of how many times they've tried to take on Steam and lost. You would think they would have learned by now.
- sverhagen 9y ago
  Some of the Microsoft products you listed have been around and successful for a really long time. I can only imagine some people being disappointed about Flight Simulator being dropped after about 24 years, but that's a very respectable product lifespan. When you look at Silverlight, that was very strategic to Microsoft, they put a lot of weight behind it, and them abandoning it after nine years isn't for a lack of trying. With Google it's more like floating an idea, that then people might get hooked on, for them to seemingly say: nah, never mind. Google probably has the numbers to back up these decisions, but for people that were buying into it, that's pretty sour, and it either has happened quite a few times with them, or they have a major perception problem around the matter.
havetocharge 9y ago
Why such a negative response? I do not see how it is constructive at all..
- daxfohl 9y ago
  A) Look: New Vaporware! B) Yeah but it's still vaporware Not necessarily constructive, so much as pointing out a thing.
ChuckMcM 9y ago
I can certainly see the sentiment. I also thought maybe this is like a startup incubator where the Google employees get some 'test customers' to actually see if their science project has legs. Because who doesn't like being a test customer right? The optics are horribly bad here, to someone on the outside, hitting that landing page, it looks like "Gee we have these fans that will do almost anything to feel like they are on the 'inside', lets have a thought shower and see how we can exploit that!" What's next, let us be early testers of the fully immersive VR environment? You know strap us into a harness, feed VR right to our brain, and harvest our thermal energy to power data centers?

by Lazare 9y ago

So this gives people the opportunity to try Google products... ...that are even more likely to to be cancelled without warning than normal Google products? I'm positively quivering with anticipation.

paulddraper 9y ago

I liked Gmail labs' stuff. And some of it got incorporated into Gmail proper (and later inbox). I for one was grateful for the "experimental" things I got the opportunity to use, e.g. cancel after send.

Lazare 9y ago
The thing about Gmail labs is they are (mostly) extra features that you could use or not, and which didn't leave you worse off than if you'd never used them if you started and then they were killed off Fully fledged products have more risk. And I've felt burned by multiple Google products in the past. Let's say the first product announced by Area 120 turns out to be a great new chat app. Would you recommend your friends all download it and start using it? :) Edit: Confused Google Labs and Gmail labs, my bad. Removed nonsensical comment.
- tempestn 9y ago
  Are you speaking of labs being killed off in the hypothetical? As far as I can tell, it's still there...
  - Lazare 9y ago
    I was thinking of Google Labs I guess, brain fart. Edited my comment. :(
- hrrsn 9y ago
  >Let's say the first product announced by Area 120 turns out to be a great new chat app. That's exactly what Google has been missing all these years: a chat app.

pvg 9y ago

That's turning into the Google version of what one of the mods here called 'Wolfram derangement syndrome'. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10978871 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10978871 Yes Google cancels stuff (usually not without warning). Experimental stuff? Even more likely to go nowhere, just as it says on the page. The response is, by this point, completely content-free.

sgustard 9y ago
Yes, this has become an HN meme/trope. The other one illustrated here is "what's up with web page design trends where I can't read the text or scroll properly?"

bitmapbrother 9y ago

Just curious, do you post the same response when Microsoft announces products or services? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Microsoft_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Microsof... You can also add these to the list: Wunderlist Sunset Games for Windows Silverlight Zune Kin XNA PlaysForSure Flight Sim Expression Suite SteadyState Windows RT Windows Phone 7 Forefront Front Page Money Or Apple? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_discontinued_by_Apple_Inc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_products_discontinued_....

new299 9y ago
The difference between web services that Google provides and almost everything in both those lists is: 1) When a web service goes away, you can't keep using the old version that's installed on your PC/hardware you own. 2) In the vast majority of cases the products were not cancelled before the introduction of a replacement. Notable exceptions might include the Newton. And yes, it would probably quite normal to mention the Newton when a similar product was launched (i.e. the original iPhone) and may people did.
- bitmapbrother 9y ago
  Microsoft has also cancelled services so I'm not sure why you're trying to make it sound any different. I have Steam games that have no online support anymore because Microsoft cancelled yet another Steam competitor service. I've lost track of how many times they've tried to take on Steam and lost. You would think they would have learned by now.
sverhagen 9y ago
Some of the Microsoft products you listed have been around and successful for a really long time. I can only imagine some people being disappointed about Flight Simulator being dropped after about 24 years, but that's a very respectable product lifespan. When you look at Silverlight, that was very strategic to Microsoft, they put a lot of weight behind it, and them abandoning it after nine years isn't for a lack of trying. With Google it's more like floating an idea, that then people might get hooked on, for them to seemingly say: nah, never mind. Google probably has the numbers to back up these decisions, but for people that were buying into it, that's pretty sour, and it either has happened quite a few times with them, or they have a major perception problem around the matter.

havetocharge 9y ago

Why such a negative response? I do not see how it is constructive at all..

daxfohl 9y ago
A) Look: New Vaporware! B) Yeah but it's still vaporware Not necessarily constructive, so much as pointing out a thing.

ChuckMcM 9y ago

I can certainly see the sentiment. I also thought maybe this is like a startup incubator where the Google employees get some 'test customers' to actually see if their science project has legs. Because who doesn't like being a test customer right? The optics are horribly bad here, to someone on the outside, hitting that landing page, it looks like "Gee we have these fans that will do almost anything to feel like they are on the 'inside', lets have a thought shower and see how we can exploit that!" What's next, let us be early testers of the fully immersive VR environment? You know strap us into a harness, feed VR right to our brain, and harvest our thermal energy to power data centers?