If you read the Economist article again, I think you'll see that you may have come to a personal conclusion with regard to identifying the source of the problem

If you read the Economist article again, I think you'll see that you may have come to a personal conclusion with regard to identifying the source of the problem. This is especially apparent, because neither of them even mentioned the possibility of variable pricing, as it was only brought up in my comment. Both focus on the value of the community itself, the public good that emerges from the physical infrastructure that is privately built, that its value increases with size, that growth is influenced by size, and that early adopters are likely influenced by guesses about longevity. The analysis could be wrong over the long term, but there is a growing consensus summed up in another front page post[1] right now, that describes how Google has caused some damage to its brand. Some of which is likely being felt right now in the chilled enthusiasm around the release of Google Keep—a product that relies on network effects more than Google Reader does. [1]http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/finale-for-now-on-googles-self-inflicted-trust-problem/274286/ http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/03/finale...