Two More Google Software Dogs Go To Heaven

theodp writes "Two more software products will be going to Google Software Heaven shortly. On Friday, Google issued a death certificate for Google Health (date of death = Jan. 1, 2012), and added that the lights will go out on Google PowerMeter on Sep. 16, 2011. 'We've observed that Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would,' said Google. 'There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven't found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people.' Regarding PowerMeter, Google's 'Green Energy Czar' had this to say: 'We're pleased that PowerMeter has helped demonstrate the importance of this access and created something of a model. However, our efforts have not scaled as quickly as we would like, so we are retiring the service.' Google added that the White House will carry on the fight after being inspired by success stories like the Harker School (tuition: $36,435), which used grant money to acquire off-the-shelf sub-metering technology that revealed their energy bill could be reduced by not air conditioning the gym from 9pm-3am."

Comments

"not air conditioning the gym from 9pm-3am"

[gatkinso]

The fact that people need software to tell them this would save money is sad indeed.

Re:"not air conditioning the gym from 9pm-3am"

[myurr]

And a quick walk around the school after it had shut wouldn't have let them discover this without the need for expensive analysis!?

Part of the problem with most managers is that they seem to refuse to go anywhere near the coalface and subsequently rely on spreadsheets and numbers for managing their business. Spending a few days every now and then actually experiencing the business first hand would leave them far better informed and help them become better managers.

Re:"not air conditioning the gym from 9pm-3am"

[spire3661]

And part of the problem is lay people going 'Durr, its obvious' Balancing an HVAC system is not as obvious as you make it out to be.

There's a Google Health?

[Dachannien]

First I'd heard of it. Maybe I've been living under a Google Rock, but you'd think a company that specializes in advertising could Google Tell People About This Thing better.

Two reasons why these services died

[countertrolling]

Money... and money

Re:So THAT'S what we're spending our money on.

[Doc Ruby]

Except they don't. Nearly all buildings are inefficient in ways that are fairly cheap and simple to fix, once the specific problem is identified. Very few of them are identified. The efficiency upgrade industry should be 100x larger, but most people are ignorant, inefficient, and even smug about it.