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Google Terminates Lively

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the we-hardly-knew-ye dept.

FornaxChemica writes "In a surprise move, Google announced today, both on-site and in its blog, that it will permanently shut down its 3D virtual world, Lively, by the end of the year. This makes Lively one of Google's few scrapped products, and one of the most short-lived, too, barely lasting 6 months. No official reason was given, only that Google wants to 'prioritize [its] resources and focus more on [its] core search, ads and apps business.' Lively might have taken too much and given back too little, even by Google's standards."

4 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not surprising... by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

    Then again, so was going outside, soap, and leaving the basement.

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  2. Line of thought by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Then again, so was going outside, soap, and leaving the basement.

    "Leaving the basement IS going outside. What's he talking about?"

    "hmm"

    "I should make a post pointing that clear mistake... clickity post reply... Let's see... how to point the mista... waaaaaait a second..."

    OUTSIDE THE ENTIRE HOUSE?!

  3. Now let's look back on some stupid reporting by patmfitz · · Score: 5, Funny
    http://blogs.computerworld.com/why_googles_lively_is_great_for_telecommuters

    Remember the date: July 8, 2008. Today is the day virtual worlds go mainstream. The reason is that Google has launched its own 3D virtual world called Lively. It's free. And it changes everything. Especially for telecommuters.

    The current iteration of Lively seems to border on the goofy and cartoonish. But eventually, it's likely that Google's virtual world will become mainstream to the point where enterprises actually conduct real business there.

    Like instant messaging and social networking, Lively will probably start out as a trendy hangout for teens, only later to become indispensable for professionals first for internal communication, then later to replace some business travel and even trade shows and the like.

    Kudos to you, Mike Elgan, for your keen insight.

  4. Re:Not surprising... by HardCase · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shampoo is for posers. I use Realpoo.