7 ms·

How Google should have acquired EtherPad

50 points by jeff18 17y ago

pmjordan 17y ago
I love how everyone seems to have advice for Google with this recent acquisition. I say wait and see how this plays out before grabbing the pitchforks. Calling it un-google-like also strikes me as odd; after all, didn't the Omnisio acquisition take a similar path? OK, the site is still up to this day, but it's not actively maintained and you can't add new videos.
- staunch 17y ago
  Part of it has already played out though. The part where people who loved the product can suddenly no longer use it. That action can be fairly judged. What happens next is still in question, obviously. I'm pretty sure Omnisio had barely any users, so that probably explains why no one was that upset about it. It's also a different kind of product. People would be more upset if they couldn't use Microsoft Word for their work, than they would be if they couldn't watch a funny video on YouTube.
  - jackowayed 17y ago
    people who loved the product can suddenly no longer use it That's not 100% accurate. I think most people who really loved it, myself included, signed up for etherpad pro. You can make fully private pads, and it's free as long as you don't want private pads w/ more than 3 users on it. I can still make as many pads as I please. Obviously, that won't be true when they shut etherpad down. I'm still not happy that they're killing it. I'm hoping that they think if the Appjet guys help on wave for the next few months, wave will be a much better replacement by then. I guess we'll see.
    - jeff18 17y ago
      So, basically, this issue doesn't affect you at all. No wonder you are nonchalant -- you still have full access to it for a few months and are able to gradually migrate onto a new product at your own leisure! Try to put yourself in the shoes of everyone else who love it as much as you, but suddenly and without warning are no longer able to use it. If Google had given me even one day of warning, I would have bought a premium account as well.
      - pohl 17y ago
        It also wouldn't hurt to put yourselves in the shoes of the etherpad owners who had to sell out. Maybe they wouldn't have if the fans had ponied up for the pro account.
        akkartik 17y ago
        How much blame do we individual freeloaders bear for them selling out? Puh-lease. Even if everyone on HN who used etherpad paid them they'd still find "low 8 digits" pretty dang compelling.
        dagw 17y ago
        I guess that is a general problem with the whole 'freemium' approach. I use a number of such products and services which I greatly enjoy, but see no reason to pay for because their free offering is more than enough for my limited needs. Had they said pay us a few bucks or go without then perhaps I'd pay, but when they say pay us a bunch for a service you don't need just so that the service you do need remains free for everyone, it becomes a lot harder to whip out that credit card.
      - scott_s 17y ago
        If the product was so important to you and how you work, why didn't you pay for it?
        jeff18 17y ago
        Because I didn't need to? The free version suited me just fine.
        scott_s 17y ago
        Then you're not entitled to anything. That is, I think it's unfair to expect them to extend good will to you, when you weren't willing to pay for a product that you depended on.
        17y ago
  - bumblebird 17y ago
    To be fair, did Etherpad have many users outside HN users? I loved it, but was it widely used?
    - gruseom 17y ago
      http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad Edit: even more interesting! http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad+lars http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad+lars
cmelbye 17y ago
Uh, I just went onto http://etherpad.com/ http://etherpad.com/ and I was able to create a new pad. Maybe Google is listening to the complaints?
- bradgessler 17y ago
  Oh awesome! This must be recent, I was at Etherpad a few hours ago and that button was disabled. I hope Google heard us.
  - silentOpen 17y ago
    The ease with which you can replace "Google" with "God" in that sentence is disconcerting.
    - pavs 17y ago
      Since one of them doesn't really exist, its really easy to replace it.
- jeff18 17y ago
  Wow, this is great! They haven't announced anything new (still officially is read only) but it looks like they are preparing to reverse their stance!
- chaosprophet 17y ago
  Yeah, they have announced changes: http://etherpad.com/ep/blog/posts/etherpad-back-online-until-open-sourced http://etherpad.com/ep/blog/posts/etherpad-back-online-until....
adubs 17y ago
Well, I just read this post and went off to create iMotable :) Took me about 30 min. http://socialdecks.com/iMotable/ http://socialdecks.com/iMotable/

50 points by jeff18 17y ago

I love how everyone seems to have advice for Google with this recent acquisition. I say wait and see how this plays out before grabbing the pitchforks. Calling it un-google-like also strikes me as odd; after all, didn't the Omnisio acquisition take a similar path? OK, the site is still up to this day, but it's not actively maintained and you can't add new videos.

staunch 17y ago
Part of it has already played out though. The part where people who loved the product can suddenly no longer use it. That action can be fairly judged. What happens next is still in question, obviously. I'm pretty sure Omnisio had barely any users, so that probably explains why no one was that upset about it. It's also a different kind of product. People would be more upset if they couldn't use Microsoft Word for their work, than they would be if they couldn't watch a funny video on YouTube.
- jackowayed 17y ago
  people who loved the product can suddenly no longer use it That's not 100% accurate. I think most people who really loved it, myself included, signed up for etherpad pro. You can make fully private pads, and it's free as long as you don't want private pads w/ more than 3 users on it. I can still make as many pads as I please. Obviously, that won't be true when they shut etherpad down. I'm still not happy that they're killing it. I'm hoping that they think if the Appjet guys help on wave for the next few months, wave will be a much better replacement by then. I guess we'll see.
  - jeff18 17y ago
    So, basically, this issue doesn't affect you at all. No wonder you are nonchalant -- you still have full access to it for a few months and are able to gradually migrate onto a new product at your own leisure! Try to put yourself in the shoes of everyone else who love it as much as you, but suddenly and without warning are no longer able to use it. If Google had given me even one day of warning, I would have bought a premium account as well.
    - pohl 17y ago
      It also wouldn't hurt to put yourselves in the shoes of the etherpad owners who had to sell out. Maybe they wouldn't have if the fans had ponied up for the pro account.
      - akkartik 17y ago
        How much blame do we individual freeloaders bear for them selling out? Puh-lease. Even if everyone on HN who used etherpad paid them they'd still find "low 8 digits" pretty dang compelling.
      - dagw 17y ago
        I guess that is a general problem with the whole 'freemium' approach. I use a number of such products and services which I greatly enjoy, but see no reason to pay for because their free offering is more than enough for my limited needs. Had they said pay us a few bucks or go without then perhaps I'd pay, but when they say pay us a bunch for a service you don't need just so that the service you do need remains free for everyone, it becomes a lot harder to whip out that credit card.
    - scott_s 17y ago
      If the product was so important to you and how you work, why didn't you pay for it?
      - jeff18 17y ago
        Because I didn't need to? The free version suited me just fine.
        scott_s 17y ago
        Then you're not entitled to anything. That is, I think it's unfair to expect them to extend good will to you, when you weren't willing to pay for a product that you depended on.
        17y ago
- bumblebird 17y ago
  To be fair, did Etherpad have many users outside HN users? I loved it, but was it widely used?
  - gruseom 17y ago
    http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad Edit: even more interesting! http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad+lars http://search.twitter.com/search?q=etherpad+lars

cmelbye 17y ago

Uh, I just went onto http://etherpad.com/ http://etherpad.com/ and I was able to create a new pad. Maybe Google is listening to the complaints?

bradgessler 17y ago
Oh awesome! This must be recent, I was at Etherpad a few hours ago and that button was disabled. I hope Google heard us.
- silentOpen 17y ago
  The ease with which you can replace "Google" with "God" in that sentence is disconcerting.
  - pavs 17y ago
    Since one of them doesn't really exist, its really easy to replace it.
jeff18 17y ago
Wow, this is great! They haven't announced anything new (still officially is read only) but it looks like they are preparing to reverse their stance!
chaosprophet 17y ago
Yeah, they have announced changes: http://etherpad.com/ep/blog/posts/etherpad-back-online-until-open-sourced http://etherpad.com/ep/blog/posts/etherpad-back-online-until....

adubs 17y ago

Well, I just read this post and went off to create iMotable :) Took me about 30 min. http://socialdecks.com/iMotable/ http://socialdecks.com/iMotable/