6 ms·

Google Kills Lively

15 points by jaydub 18y ago

kqr2 18y ago
I wonder if google will open source the software.
- jonursenbach 18y ago
  I'd be willing to bet that that's not going to happen due to how involved it was and that it wasn't built off of any open source ideals. Is this the first Google product to be explicitly killed (not counting ones that go stale after being acquired)?
  - gojomo 18y ago
    'Google Answers' was shut down (but leaving the archives up) in November 2006, after over 4 years of operation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Answers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Answers
    - jonursenbach 18y ago
      Ah yeah Google Answers...
  - kragen 18y ago
    Google Web Accelerator.
aneesh 18y ago
As a TC commenter pointed out, the traffic graph for Knol looks just like that of Lively: http://www.google.com/trends?q=lively.com,+knol.google.com&ctab=312322560&geo=all&date=ytd http://www.google.com/trends?q=lively.com,+knol.google.com&#... Maybe (hopefully?) Knol is next.
- unalone 18y ago
  Poor Google. They've got all these neat ideas that just don't work.
  - stcredzero 18y ago
    Seems to be the me-too ideas that fizzle like this.
  - tlrobinson 18y ago
    I'm going to disagree and say Google hasn't had many neat ideas in years. I can't think of anything they've done recently that's had anywhere near as much impact as PageRank, AdSense/AdWords, Google Maps, or Gmail. All of those were released in 2005 or earlier. Knol is a tweaked Wikipedia. Lively is a Second Life clone. Open Social was the response to Facebook Apps. Chrome, Android, and maybe App Engine are the only recent things I can think of that have any potential.
brandnewlow 18y ago
So google, a company that prizes automation and data-driven decision-making over subjective filters and editorial oversight....doesn't do so hot with community-driven projects? Not so surprised. I dunno, I get a warm feeling when stuff like this flops for them. Shows they're human. They probably learned a great deal that will be applied elsewhere.
- greyman 18y ago
  Exactly my thought. They should focus more on what they are good at, data-driven algos.

Google Kills Lively

15 points by jaydub 18y ago

kqr2 18y ago

I wonder if google will open source the software.

jonursenbach 18y ago
I'd be willing to bet that that's not going to happen due to how involved it was and that it wasn't built off of any open source ideals. Is this the first Google product to be explicitly killed (not counting ones that go stale after being acquired)?
- gojomo 18y ago
  'Google Answers' was shut down (but leaving the archives up) in November 2006, after over 4 years of operation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Answers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Answers
  - jonursenbach 18y ago
    Ah yeah Google Answers...
- kragen 18y ago
  Google Web Accelerator.

aneesh 18y ago

As a TC commenter pointed out, the traffic graph for Knol looks just like that of Lively: http://www.google.com/trends?q=lively.com,+knol.google.com&ctab=312322560&geo=all&date=ytd http://www.google.com/trends?q=lively.com,+knol.google.com&#... Maybe (hopefully?) Knol is next.

unalone 18y ago
Poor Google. They've got all these neat ideas that just don't work.
- stcredzero 18y ago
  Seems to be the me-too ideas that fizzle like this.
- tlrobinson 18y ago
  I'm going to disagree and say Google hasn't had many neat ideas in years. I can't think of anything they've done recently that's had anywhere near as much impact as PageRank, AdSense/AdWords, Google Maps, or Gmail. All of those were released in 2005 or earlier. Knol is a tweaked Wikipedia. Lively is a Second Life clone. Open Social was the response to Facebook Apps. Chrome, Android, and maybe App Engine are the only recent things I can think of that have any potential.

brandnewlow 18y ago

So google, a company that prizes automation and data-driven decision-making over subjective filters and editorial oversight....doesn't do so hot with community-driven projects? Not so surprised. I dunno, I get a warm feeling when stuff like this flops for them. Shows they're human. They probably learned a great deal that will be applied elsewhere.

greyman 18y ago
Exactly my thought. They should focus more on what they are good at, data-driven algos.