3 ms·

I wonder who's pet project this was and if there were any consequences inside the company for its failure. It really did seem like a dumb idea from the beginni

I wonder who's pet project this was and if there were any consequences inside the company for its failure. It really did seem like a dumb idea from the beginning. I had a hard time seeing myself take the time to go to a pier to get on a floating flagship store. Even in SF where the port is integrated with the city I couldn't see myself doing it.

michaelbuckbee 12y ago
I'm not familiar enough with the local real estate markets - but big flagship stores like Apples cost millions just for the buildout - it's conceivable that something like this might actually be less expensive (and certainly more interesting) than a traditional brick and mortar shop.
melling 12y ago
It's $4 million dollars. http://bgr.com/2014/08/01/google-mystery-barge-cancelled/ http://bgr.com/2014/08/01/google-mystery-barge-cancelled/ That's a rounding error.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Definitely not a rounding error. That's a substantial chunk of money and if you waste that it gets noticed. Revenues are not profits. If it's a rounding error for you then you're in better shape then I am.
  - Retric 12y ago
    Your assuming it was a total loss of which seems unlikely. They receive something when they sold the barge. More imortantly when doing A/B testing it's a bad idea to think of building the worse option as wasted time. It was a hedge that never got used.
  - nostrademons 12y ago
    Google is definitely in better shape than you are. Quarterly earnings last quarter were about $3.4B. Put it this way: $4M is about the fully-loaded cost of a team of 8-10 engineers over a year. Projects involving 8-10 man-years of engineer time get canceled all the time.
- sscalia 12y ago
  You realize how you sound when you call four-fucking-million-united-states-earth-dollars a rounding error right? You could feed 80,000 children in African for 4 million dollars a year. Get a level set on your life, bud.
lnanek2 12y ago
It's pretty common to take boat tours and outings in SF, honestly. There's even a yearly cruise for game devs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pirates-of-silicon-valley-cruise-party-2014-gdc-edition-tickets-10048983781 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pirates-of-silicon-valley-c... It wasn't even tough to get to. Grab the BART to the embarcadero, grab the MUNI down along it, hop off at the right pier and walk right on. Although we all were hanging out at the restaurant right in front before leaving. I understand Joe Blow wouldn't be used to hoping on a yacht, but I don't think people who can blow $1,500 on an expensive accessory would lack that sort of experience. I hear Google has a commute boat as well they were trying out to go along with the busses.

michaelbuckbee 12y ago

I'm not familiar enough with the local real estate markets - but big flagship stores like Apples cost millions just for the buildout - it's conceivable that something like this might actually be less expensive (and certainly more interesting) than a traditional brick and mortar shop.

melling 12y ago

It's $4 million dollars. http://bgr.com/2014/08/01/google-mystery-barge-cancelled/ http://bgr.com/2014/08/01/google-mystery-barge-cancelled/ That's a rounding error.

jacquesm 12y ago
Definitely not a rounding error. That's a substantial chunk of money and if you waste that it gets noticed. Revenues are not profits. If it's a rounding error for you then you're in better shape then I am.
- Retric 12y ago
  Your assuming it was a total loss of which seems unlikely. They receive something when they sold the barge. More imortantly when doing A/B testing it's a bad idea to think of building the worse option as wasted time. It was a hedge that never got used.
- nostrademons 12y ago
  Google is definitely in better shape than you are. Quarterly earnings last quarter were about $3.4B. Put it this way: $4M is about the fully-loaded cost of a team of 8-10 engineers over a year. Projects involving 8-10 man-years of engineer time get canceled all the time.
sscalia 12y ago
You realize how you sound when you call four-fucking-million-united-states-earth-dollars a rounding error right? You could feed 80,000 children in African for 4 million dollars a year. Get a level set on your life, bud.

lnanek2 12y ago

It's pretty common to take boat tours and outings in SF, honestly. There's even a yearly cruise for game devs: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pirates-of-silicon-valley-cruise-party-2014-gdc-edition-tickets-10048983781 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-pirates-of-silicon-valley-c... It wasn't even tough to get to. Grab the BART to the embarcadero, grab the MUNI down along it, hop off at the right pier and walk right on. Although we all were hanging out at the restaurant right in front before leaving. I understand Joe Blow wouldn't be used to hoping on a yacht, but I don't think people who can blow $1,500 on an expensive accessory would lack that sort of experience. I hear Google has a commute boat as well they were trying out to go along with the busses.