Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Loss of Some Good Google Services


I have been personally using google services for quite some time now. There are different services out there by many companies and some simply are better than others, that's just saying things fairly and keeping perspective. I will say that Google services, like Google Docs, Google Plus and Google Maps are constantly being added to and developed further. If there is anything that you want to see in a product is Development. I used others that are flashy and glitzy and that's where it ended. They promised future enhancements and they never came through. Some things do come to an end at times and we are never all happy about the same ending. Who wants their favorite TV show to come to an end, how about the best season your having or even a relationship. Nope, I bet everyone has at least one of those that they don't want to see with an ending. But products have their way of ending, either with evolvement, termination and sometimes both.

Unfortunately, some of Google's services are showing their endings. Lets take something that was used long ago, Google Notepad. It allowed us to keep simple notes and store them but without much flair. It was simple and useful but ultimately was retired and its replacement was to use Google Docs. Google Docs had more functionality then and has even more functionality now. We can create Documents, Presentation and Spreadsheets. The spreadsheets are still coming along. Most recently Google Keep was introduced. Its kind of like the older notepad. Someplace where you can put your notes in and store them for a bit and get at them readily on your mobile device.

Lets talk about Google Reader. In my opinion, one of the best places to follow stories on the web. Yes you can kind of follow stories on the web through Google Plus but its not the same at the moment. It might get there one day but its not there yet. Instead of having a true alternative, we are forced to use other services. Not really a good idea to have your followers find an alternative product like Feedly.
The iGoogle site was somewhat similar to Google Reader in a way. It allowed you to see your email, the weather, some items from reader, current movie times and more. I say it was similar because it was many different things in one area to view almost all at once but alas it is also being retired.

I am also going to miss Google Latitude. I used it to verify my mobile location, where my friends were/are at and simply helping to find one another. I liked it and it felt less intrusive than Facebook and other services that seemed so much more public. I am starting to use Waze more and hope that it shows more features like Goggle Latitude, especially since Google now owns them, so we are going to have to wait and see.

Last two things that are on the current "short list," among other things is Google Catalogs and Google Checkout. Google Catalogs was a nice idea. I had a few favorite catalogs that I would look at and some that I had not seen in quite some time. I never did feel the urge to buy from it. Why you ask, because it was not so easy. I felt that it was just a way to look at stuff and not purchase so what benefit did it play to Google, not much that I can see. Google Checkout is being removed but believe it is because of the push for Google Wallet. Seems like most places I turn to are looking at different payment methods. The easier it is to pay with something and still be secure the more users have a tendency to use it, it kind of makes sense.

We don't always know what companies are planning or thinking. Look at all the Samsung Galaxy devices, Apple iPads and upcoming smart-watches and see innovations at work. Development has a way of bringing things new to us and bringing older items to a rest. Lets hope that with every item that is retired, a new product that out ways with more benefits comes to bring new life.


The official Google blog regarding what is to close as of March 2013 is below.