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Warren Ellis: Dear Google: why launch Google Keep when you've just proven you'll shut off productivity services when you get bored with maintaining them? https

Warren Ellis: Dear Google: why launch Google Keep when you've just proven you'll shut off productivity services when you get bored with maintaining them? https://twitter.com/warrenellis/status/314493398138630145 https://twitter.com/warrenellis/status/314493398138630145

gpjt 14y ago
Precisely. I'd thought of building something like this for my own use last autumn, and ironically actually started building it over the weekend[1] (GF away for the week). When I was young and naive, reading that one of the big boys was getting into the space where I'd just started a project would have scared me off and I'd have abandoned it. In recent, more clued-up years I'd have thought "ah, market validation!" and ramped up my development effort. Now, in the light of the Reader abandonment, it's more like a feeling of joy that Google will educate the world about how great an idea this is, and then abandon it just about when I have something that other people might actually want to use. [1] http://blog.memostream.com/2013/03/19/hello-world/ http://blog.memostream.com/2013/03/19/hello-world/
- dragonwriter 14y ago
  > Now, in the light of the Reader abandonment, it's more like a feeling of joy that Google will educate the world about how great an idea this is, and then abandon it just about when I have something that other people might actually want to use. Drive, while also available for free, part of the core of the paid Google Apps offering, and its (as the parallel to OneNote) a key part of Google Apps being an alternative to Microsoft Office (and, consequently, to ChromeOS with Google Apps being an alternative to Windows with Microsoft Office). Its hardly positioned similarly to Reader which, however popular it may have been with a segment that is overrepresented among active participants of online forums focussed on technology, was pretty distant from any core strategic focus for Google. So, I wouldn't bank on Google canceling this any time soon (or even in 8 years, as happened with Reader.)
  - gpjt 14y ago
    You may be right -- possibly I'm overcompensating for my earlier worries. Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project.
    - dragonwriter 14y ago
      > Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project. And that can be a compelling reason to do it, anyway, sure.
      - gpjt 14y ago
        Indeed. Though now that I've realised it's unlikely to make me my millions, I think I'll write it using Angular, Node, CoffeeScript, MongoDB, and possibly Haskell.
- stephengillie 14y ago
  This is exactly what I'm realizing with my self-driving trash can: Google's self-driving car team are just a few guys who can code, and some sensors, processors, and servos attached to a car. (And since it's Google, a TON of code written by those few guys) What, I can't do the same with an RC car chassis and a handful of Arduinos?
  - gpjt 14y ago
    A self-driving trash can is possibly the best idea I've ever heard!
bdisraeli 14y ago
Why would it matter if they shut it down? With Google Takeout[1] Google has proven to be be pretty good about making sure users can move their data out of Google's services. So you use Keep it ends up being good[2], but then 1 year from now Google announces it'll be shut down. Oh no! I guess I just have to download all my data from Keep and upload it to Evernote. I understand people (although seemingly more people than actually used the product) are upset about Reader, and justifiably so, but I think it's a little hyperbolic to evaluate every new Google product in that light. [1] https://www.google.com/takeout/ https://www.google.com/takeout/ [2]I haven't used and don't really plan to, so I have no idea whether or not it's good.
michaelwww 14y ago
Why can't Google be like the rest of the tech industry with perpetual free services and 0 file format changes?
- jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
  Google wants your data so it can better target you with ads (how Google makes money). When they realize they want more from you they change things around to make that easy. If/when they figure out it costs more money to run that pseudo-free service they unplug it. People then get upset. But that's not Google's fault. We need to consider ourselves lucky that it lasted as long as it did.
  - michaelwww 14y ago
    I tried it, didn't like it and moved on to a newsreader I liked better. The only explanation I can come up with for all the emotion is that these people have abandonment issues.
    - jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
      A lot of people fail to understand that free services still need to be paid for and Google's business model has ad merchants paying most of the bills. As long as this is true Google will remain loyal to them before it's loyal to the end users. RSS is an open format and because of that you can choose whatever news reader you like. I hope you'll enjoy whatever app you've found.
      - michaelwww 14y ago
        I've been pretty happy with Feedreader for the past year, except the built in web browser control on Windows is pretty lame -- not Feedreader's fault, but Windows - so I open up with a double click to Chrome when I want to view the original.
capkutay 14y ago
For this product, I'm more concerned about integration with iOS devices. I love being able to access evernote on my iPad and iPhone. I doubt that Apple will allow lots of iOS integration with anything having to do with Google Drive/anything that helps Android's cause.
- jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
  iOS developers can use the Google Drive SDK. I don't think Apple will block that. Apple already allows Dropbox SDK apps.
jinushaun 14y ago
They already killed Keep the first time. It was called Notebook.
dragonwriter 14y ago
> Warren Ellis: Dear Google: why launch Google Keep when you've just proven you'll shut off productivity services when you get bored with maintaining them? It probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense to assume that services introduced after Google announced that they were going to start trimming old offerings that didn't warrant support and increase the focus on what they do introduce are likely to be closed just because Google is closing services introduced before that effort was announced. The whole point of that effort is to kill the existing zombie offerings and stop creating new ones.

gpjt 14y ago

Precisely. I'd thought of building something like this for my own use last autumn, and ironically actually started building it over the weekend[1] (GF away for the week). When I was young and naive, reading that one of the big boys was getting into the space where I'd just started a project would have scared me off and I'd have abandoned it. In recent, more clued-up years I'd have thought "ah, market validation!" and ramped up my development effort. Now, in the light of the Reader abandonment, it's more like a feeling of joy that Google will educate the world about how great an idea this is, and then abandon it just about when I have something that other people might actually want to use. [1] http://blog.memostream.com/2013/03/19/hello-world/ http://blog.memostream.com/2013/03/19/hello-world/

dragonwriter 14y ago
> Now, in the light of the Reader abandonment, it's more like a feeling of joy that Google will educate the world about how great an idea this is, and then abandon it just about when I have something that other people might actually want to use. Drive, while also available for free, part of the core of the paid Google Apps offering, and its (as the parallel to OneNote) a key part of Google Apps being an alternative to Microsoft Office (and, consequently, to ChromeOS with Google Apps being an alternative to Windows with Microsoft Office). Its hardly positioned similarly to Reader which, however popular it may have been with a segment that is overrepresented among active participants of online forums focussed on technology, was pretty distant from any core strategic focus for Google. So, I wouldn't bank on Google canceling this any time soon (or even in 8 years, as happened with Reader.)
- gpjt 14y ago
  You may be right -- possibly I'm overcompensating for my earlier worries. Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project.
  - dragonwriter 14y ago
    > Still, if the worst comes to the worst it'll still be an interesting project. And that can be a compelling reason to do it, anyway, sure.
    - gpjt 14y ago
      Indeed. Though now that I've realised it's unlikely to make me my millions, I think I'll write it using Angular, Node, CoffeeScript, MongoDB, and possibly Haskell.
stephengillie 14y ago
This is exactly what I'm realizing with my self-driving trash can: Google's self-driving car team are just a few guys who can code, and some sensors, processors, and servos attached to a car. (And since it's Google, a TON of code written by those few guys) What, I can't do the same with an RC car chassis and a handful of Arduinos?
- gpjt 14y ago
  A self-driving trash can is possibly the best idea I've ever heard!

bdisraeli 14y ago

Why would it matter if they shut it down? With Google Takeout[1] Google has proven to be be pretty good about making sure users can move their data out of Google's services. So you use Keep it ends up being good[2], but then 1 year from now Google announces it'll be shut down. Oh no! I guess I just have to download all my data from Keep and upload it to Evernote. I understand people (although seemingly more people than actually used the product) are upset about Reader, and justifiably so, but I think it's a little hyperbolic to evaluate every new Google product in that light. [1] https://www.google.com/takeout/ https://www.google.com/takeout/ [2]I haven't used and don't really plan to, so I have no idea whether or not it's good.

michaelwww 14y ago

Why can't Google be like the rest of the tech industry with perpetual free services and 0 file format changes?

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
Google wants your data so it can better target you with ads (how Google makes money). When they realize they want more from you they change things around to make that easy. If/when they figure out it costs more money to run that pseudo-free service they unplug it. People then get upset. But that's not Google's fault. We need to consider ourselves lucky that it lasted as long as it did.
- michaelwww 14y ago
  I tried it, didn't like it and moved on to a newsreader I liked better. The only explanation I can come up with for all the emotion is that these people have abandonment issues.
  - jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
    A lot of people fail to understand that free services still need to be paid for and Google's business model has ad merchants paying most of the bills. As long as this is true Google will remain loyal to them before it's loyal to the end users. RSS is an open format and because of that you can choose whatever news reader you like. I hope you'll enjoy whatever app you've found.
    - michaelwww 14y ago
      I've been pretty happy with Feedreader for the past year, except the built in web browser control on Windows is pretty lame -- not Feedreader's fault, but Windows - so I open up with a double click to Chrome when I want to view the original.

capkutay 14y ago

For this product, I'm more concerned about integration with iOS devices. I love being able to access evernote on my iPad and iPhone. I doubt that Apple will allow lots of iOS integration with anything having to do with Google Drive/anything that helps Android's cause.

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
iOS developers can use the Google Drive SDK. I don't think Apple will block that. Apple already allows Dropbox SDK apps.

jinushaun 14y ago

They already killed Keep the first time. It was called Notebook.

dragonwriter 14y ago

> Warren Ellis: Dear Google: why launch Google Keep when you've just proven you'll shut off productivity services when you get bored with maintaining them? It probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense to assume that services introduced after Google announced that they were going to start trimming old offerings that didn't warrant support and increase the focus on what they do introduce are likely to be closed just because Google is closing services introduced before that effort was announced. The whole point of that effort is to kill the existing zombie offerings and stop creating new ones.