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This is said a lot here but Hacker News readers really should know how overblown that meme is. Most new products fail to find a market fit, whether at a FAANG

This is said a lot here but Hacker News readers really should know how overblown that meme is. Most new products fail to find a market fit, whether at a FAANG or at a startup. The only difference is that the startup dies and therefore doesn't have any public memory of its product failure following it around and the FAANG doesn't because it has one or more cash cows to sustain itself.

alfalfasprout 3y ago
It's really not overblown. Google's own culture rewards creating new things and does not reward iterative improvement.
dag11 3y ago
I don't know, because these various startups don't pretend to have a cohesive vision/platform/ecosystem with each other, but that's exactly what Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc do. I can't think of any apps or services that Apple has launched in the past decade and has since killed, whereas without even trying I can rattle off at least ten such projects by Google.
The_Colonel 3y ago
I don't have the impression that other FAANG companies launch (and then kill) same amount of products. I'm no fan of Apple (don't own any device from them), but still recognize that when they launch a product, it likely won't get abandoned in a year. That instills confidence and people are more likely to invest their money and time into it. While tech enthusiasts are a minority, they often drive the adoption of new products and technologies.
interstice 3y ago
There is a website dedicated to listing how many times Google has done this. It’s a long list. The biggest insult really is these Google products often do have a reasonably large and dedicated following, it just doesn’t seem to be enough to move the needle compared to a monster ad business.
- baseballdork 3y ago
  https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ Currently at 293.
freedomben 3y ago
I agree it's overblown and become a meme, but there is certainly some truth to it. When Stadia was announced, I was one to push back about the silly "they'll just shut it down" stuff by pointing out that there's a big different between a massively invested product like Stadia and an RSS feed reader or a Could Print service. Then they showed me that investment $ wasn't a reassurance either... I don't think they'll shut down Gemini, in fact I'd be utterly shocked if they did, so I do think it's memey and silly to avoid Gemini because "they might shut it down," but I would certainly not bet my company on it (by building on top of their APIs).
- djmips 3y ago
  You aren't making a compelling argument for the future of Gemini.
  - freedomben 3y ago
    Indeed, as I said I'd be shocked if they killed it, but I wouldn't bet my livelihood on it, so I would suggest everyone else do the same. I'll use it as a toy, but I'm not going to allow myself to become dependent on it.

alfalfasprout 3y ago

It's really not overblown. Google's own culture rewards creating new things and does not reward iterative improvement.

dag11 3y ago

I don't know, because these various startups don't pretend to have a cohesive vision/platform/ecosystem with each other, but that's exactly what Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc do. I can't think of any apps or services that Apple has launched in the past decade and has since killed, whereas without even trying I can rattle off at least ten such projects by Google.

The_Colonel 3y ago

I don't have the impression that other FAANG companies launch (and then kill) same amount of products. I'm no fan of Apple (don't own any device from them), but still recognize that when they launch a product, it likely won't get abandoned in a year. That instills confidence and people are more likely to invest their money and time into it. While tech enthusiasts are a minority, they often drive the adoption of new products and technologies.

interstice 3y ago

There is a website dedicated to listing how many times Google has done this. It’s a long list. The biggest insult really is these Google products often do have a reasonably large and dedicated following, it just doesn’t seem to be enough to move the needle compared to a monster ad business.

baseballdork 3y ago
https://killedbygoogle.com/ https://killedbygoogle.com/ Currently at 293.

freedomben 3y ago

I agree it's overblown and become a meme, but there is certainly some truth to it. When Stadia was announced, I was one to push back about the silly "they'll just shut it down" stuff by pointing out that there's a big different between a massively invested product like Stadia and an RSS feed reader or a Could Print service. Then they showed me that investment $ wasn't a reassurance either... I don't think they'll shut down Gemini, in fact I'd be utterly shocked if they did, so I do think it's memey and silly to avoid Gemini because "they might shut it down," but I would certainly not bet my company on it (by building on top of their APIs).

djmips 3y ago
You aren't making a compelling argument for the future of Gemini.
- freedomben 3y ago
  Indeed, as I said I'd be shocked if they killed it, but I wouldn't bet my livelihood on it, so I would suggest everyone else do the same. I'll use it as a toy, but I'm not going to allow myself to become dependent on it.