6 ms·

Google Translator Toolkit is shutting down

65 points by amq 7y ago

Lagogarda 7y ago
November 22, 2019 goes down in history as the day when all Google shitty products died
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ablation 7y ago
  Is it shitty?
- dang 7y ago
  Please don't post unsubstantive comments here.
lawrenceyan 7y ago
This is sort of misleading since it's really just them deprecating things to organize and keep things tidy. You still have access to everything through Google Translate.
- amq 7y ago
  Does Translate offer the Toolkit functionality? Just checked, but couldn't find anything beyond the usual text or document translation box.
  - excursionist 7y ago
    I believe google translate offers pretty much all of the toolkit functionality (and more), but packaged in a different way. Take a look at the google translate advanced docs: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/advanced/glossary https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/advanced/glossary
UI_at_80x24 7y ago
This horse has been beaten to death, repeatedly now. Trust that Google's "don't be evil" was earnest has evaporated. * Belief that product/services from Google are anything more then ephemeral has gone up in smoke. Promises that hardware would be supported and provide a baseline for the future are nothing more then delusional and wispy. This is what we get when we have faith in a cloud. edited and updated. Thanks for the correction.
- davidcbc 7y ago
  If you're gonna beat a dead horse at least get the motto right. It was "Don't be evil" not "Do no evil"
  - riku_iki 7y ago
    > It was It is still there: "And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!" https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct/ https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct/
- UI_at_80x24 7y ago
  Didn't anybody get it? ...evaporated.. ...ephemeral... ...up in smoke... ...wispy... And then the punchline: This is what we get when we have faith in a cloud.
username90 7y ago
I think many people overestimate how large the teams who are behind most of Google's products. You have a few large ones like search, ads or cloud, but many of the smaller ones are just a few dozens who over the years dwindle down to just a handful as people realize it is a dead end project. At some point the team is not longer big enough to maintain the project and it gets shut down.
- lykr0n 7y ago
  Sounds like a management/culture issue. That's not an excuse to not cycle in new staff and people move around.
  - aledalgrande 7y ago
    Yup. Can't get that promotion if you are on the wrong product/team, that's what I heard at least.
    - devicetray0 7y ago
      It's still a reason not to use their products, if you know the staff cares more about the promo than the product. Why would I want to use something (or build a business on something) that would disappear soon thereafter.
  - username90 7y ago
    Managers are just employees as well who also pick projects that will benefit their careers. Why work on a small thing with a few million users where you will never get promoted since you are already at the top, when you could just move to the next growth ship where lots of people are hired so moving up the ranks as a manager happens naturally? To me it seems like this culture seems to go all the way to the top. It is not like Sundar got promoted so quickly due to his work on an obscure product.
    - jedberg 7y ago
      > Why work on a small thing with a few million users where you will never get promoted That's the management problem right there. You should be able to get promotions for maintaining/improving a small product. The fact that you can't is what causes this endless shutdown mentality.
junar 7y ago
Posted 2 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21026456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21026456
protomyth 7y ago
This is the natural progression of a culture that values the new toy over maintenance. It shows in the lack of support and inability to find any human support at all. If your entire success is the next thing or the big swing, there is really no incentive to maintain anything unless its absolutely necessary. I love the fact that its so easy in computer work, compared to other professions that have to deal with actual physical things, to build whole new things. On the other hand, I hate the attitude it brings to maintenance and customer service. We are the profession of throw-away cities.
- FussyZeus 7y ago
  You know you would think they would at least slow down on sunsetting services as they're releasing Stadia to a chorus of "How long until they kill this?"
coding123 7y ago
Not much of a news item. They are not shutting down google translate.

65 points by amq 7y ago

Lagogarda 7y ago

November 22, 2019 goes down in history as the day when all Google shitty products died

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ablation 7y ago
Is it shitty?
dang 7y ago
Please don't post unsubstantive comments here.

lawrenceyan 7y ago

This is sort of misleading since it's really just them deprecating things to organize and keep things tidy. You still have access to everything through Google Translate.

amq 7y ago
Does Translate offer the Toolkit functionality? Just checked, but couldn't find anything beyond the usual text or document translation box.
- excursionist 7y ago
  I believe google translate offers pretty much all of the toolkit functionality (and more), but packaged in a different way. Take a look at the google translate advanced docs: https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/advanced/glossary https://cloud.google.com/translate/docs/advanced/glossary

UI_at_80x24 7y ago

This horse has been beaten to death, repeatedly now. Trust that Google's "don't be evil" was earnest has evaporated. * Belief that product/services from Google are anything more then ephemeral has gone up in smoke. Promises that hardware would be supported and provide a baseline for the future are nothing more then delusional and wispy. This is what we get when we have faith in a cloud. edited and updated. Thanks for the correction.

davidcbc 7y ago
If you're gonna beat a dead horse at least get the motto right. It was "Don't be evil" not "Do no evil"
- riku_iki 7y ago
  > It was It is still there: "And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!" https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct/ https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct/
UI_at_80x24 7y ago
Didn't anybody get it? ...evaporated.. ...ephemeral... ...up in smoke... ...wispy... And then the punchline: This is what we get when we have faith in a cloud.

username90 7y ago

I think many people overestimate how large the teams who are behind most of Google's products. You have a few large ones like search, ads or cloud, but many of the smaller ones are just a few dozens who over the years dwindle down to just a handful as people realize it is a dead end project. At some point the team is not longer big enough to maintain the project and it gets shut down.

lykr0n 7y ago
Sounds like a management/culture issue. That's not an excuse to not cycle in new staff and people move around.
- aledalgrande 7y ago
  Yup. Can't get that promotion if you are on the wrong product/team, that's what I heard at least.
  - devicetray0 7y ago
    It's still a reason not to use their products, if you know the staff cares more about the promo than the product. Why would I want to use something (or build a business on something) that would disappear soon thereafter.
- username90 7y ago
  Managers are just employees as well who also pick projects that will benefit their careers. Why work on a small thing with a few million users where you will never get promoted since you are already at the top, when you could just move to the next growth ship where lots of people are hired so moving up the ranks as a manager happens naturally? To me it seems like this culture seems to go all the way to the top. It is not like Sundar got promoted so quickly due to his work on an obscure product.
  - jedberg 7y ago
    > Why work on a small thing with a few million users where you will never get promoted That's the management problem right there. You should be able to get promotions for maintaining/improving a small product. The fact that you can't is what causes this endless shutdown mentality.

junar 7y ago

Posted 2 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21026456 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21026456

protomyth 7y ago

This is the natural progression of a culture that values the new toy over maintenance. It shows in the lack of support and inability to find any human support at all. If your entire success is the next thing or the big swing, there is really no incentive to maintain anything unless its absolutely necessary. I love the fact that its so easy in computer work, compared to other professions that have to deal with actual physical things, to build whole new things. On the other hand, I hate the attitude it brings to maintenance and customer service. We are the profession of throw-away cities.

FussyZeus 7y ago
You know you would think they would at least slow down on sunsetting services as they're releasing Stadia to a chorus of "How long until they kill this?"

coding123 7y ago

Not much of a news item. They are not shutting down google translate.