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Google Keep Labelled "Delete"

judgecorp writes "The Google Keep note-keeping app has had a frosty reception. Analysts including Gartner have said its functionality is laughable compared to that of the rival Evernote (saying "it's like saying MSFT Paint is a threat to Photoshop") and other users have rejected it on the grounds that after the death sentence on Reader, Google can't be trusted not to pull the plug on a service which people have come to rely on."

221 comments

  1. delete? by jaymz666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Maybe an extra l there?

    My first thought was "how can I trust them with this when they just killed reader?"

    1. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, that is the correct spelling for labelled.

    2. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      that's right... even though this is a US website, US spelling is incorrect.

      labeled is the correct spelling in the US.
      http://grammarist.com/spelling/label/

    3. Re:delete? by ALeader71 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Agreed. If this doesn't take off, it may be a short lived service. I'll stick with Evernote.

      --
      Only the dead have seen the end of War. - Plato
    4. Re:delete? by jaymz666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly, I will stick with the company that has their whole business model based in note taking and similar services.

    5. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Google Keep does not affect your data even if Google would clean it off.

      Why? Because Google Keep is tied to Google Drive where it store notes. And they are just text, image and sound files. Nothing radical would not happen if you couldn't use Google Keep anymore.

      Google Reader does not kill RSS. There are plenty of RSS readers out there. Now it only demands that you need to sync readed/unreaded in different way but all the RSS feeds can be imported and exported to almost any reader. There is no such problem with Google Reader cleaned off.

      Media is talking about Google Reader as it kills RSS from WWW.

    6. Re:delete? by QAPete · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Exactly. First iGoogle, then Reader, two user-friendly, very efficient ways of getting stuff I want to see in front of my beady eyes. Google kills them both, and is constantly begging / pushing me to use Google +, which I have absolutely no wish to use. Both iGoogle and Reader were great examples of things Google did very well. Now they are putting their resources into things that OTHER companies do very well, like Google + and Google Keep.

      I have ties to Gmail I need for now, but beyond that I'm not getting involved in Google anything.

    7. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The correct spelling for "grammer" is "grammer" but "grammer" isn't the correct spelling for "grammar".

    8. Re: delete? by Tometheus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And my first thought was "how can I trust them with this when they killed G Notebook?" Not going to catch me twice with the exact same trick...

    9. Re:delete? by gmuslera · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Killing Reader didn't kill RSS. But killed all the ecosystem around it, both from apps and for the way you used it. Why i should do an alternative app that makes use of Keep if they could end it tomorrow? Why i use it to store notes if they could not be there tomorrow, and all that that was put there because that particular way of access is not there anymore?

      In any case, either with Drive or Takeout, you don't lose your data, but it lose a part of its value without the "right" way to access it, all of it. A bit more "bening" shutdown was Wave, that if well was discontinued but open sourced the server so you can continue using it in the same way elsewhere.

    10. Re:delete? by larry+bagina · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Reader didn't kill RSS but it killed and stifled development of other RSS readers over the past 7 years.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    11. Re:delete? by jamoca · · Score: 1

      And before that it was Buzz. I can still access my posts and pictures I shared with family in Buzz but for all practical purposes they are lost.

    12. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Keep does not affect your data even if Google would clean it off.

      Why? Because Google Keep is tied to Google Drive where it store notes.

      You won't lose your data if google kills this service because your data is stored in another google service...well i guess we have nothing to worry about then herp derp.

      Google Reader does not kill RSS.

      And killing Google Keep won't by itself kill your notes data, but why use a volatile google service - which will likely be killed off next spring cleaning if it doesn't achieve critical mass - for notes when you could instead use a much more proven, stable and capable service/app?

    13. Re:delete? by Ash-Fox · · Score: 0

      Agreed. If this doesn't take off, it may be a short lived service. I'll stick with Evernote.

      Google Reader: Survived eight years

      Evernote: Has only five years history.

      So far Evernote hasn't proven to be longer service than Google Reader. Your logic is flawed.

      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    14. Re:delete? by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

      That's funny. I've been using Evernote since 2005.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    15. Re:delete? by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

      And how much did you pay for it back then?

      --
      They're using their grammar skills there.
    16. Re:delete? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      I might just be someone who can read, but that article claims that the paid version was $35. Apparently they offered a free version as well, but the paid version included handwriting recognition and some other features.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    17. Re:delete? by steelfood · · Score: 1

      Next Slashdot headline: Is Google Turning Into the Next Microsoft?

      Answer: Probably.

      That's the risk of being a publically-traded company. Investors demand Google promote revenue-generating services and growth opportunties. They may not make such demands vocally, but the stock price reflects this. Google must push people into using Google+, because that's their largest growth opportunity.

      The difference between a rigid company like Microsoft or IBM or Oracle and one that is more free-flowing like Google is that Microsoft can simply throw all of their resources into "synergy" at the drop of a hat (see the Windows 8 debacle), while Google cannot.

      Killing certain apps is how Google's dealing with investor pressure. They can't move users to go where they want, so they'll just cut where they don't want their users to be, and hope that those users will move themselves.

      It's not that Google's a bad company, or evil, or any such thing. Their culture, especially their structure, probably isn't appropriate for Wall Street. They still haven't "grown up" (Eric Schmidt's term) because their decentralized, free-flowing corporate culture doesn't really allow them to.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    18. Re:delete? by Pseudonym · · Score: 1

      Google Reader does not kill RSS. There are plenty of RSS readers out there. Now it only demands that you need to sync readed/unreaded in different way but all the RSS feeds can be imported and exported to almost any reader. There is no such problem with Google Reader cleaned off.

      The death of Google Reader means the death of eight years of archives. I will no longer be able to search my RSS feeds for something I read three years ago (something I do at least once a month). Any RSS application or service that I switch to won't have that data because it doesn't exist anywhere else.

      So yeah, I'm sticking with Evernote partly because it's more feature-rich, but mostly out of spite.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
    19. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This!

    20. Re:delete? by sl149q · · Score: 1

      They said that iGoogle would die on Nov 11, 2012... so far it is still running.

    21. Re:delete? by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      It's been downgraded to beta?

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    22. Re:delete? by TheSeatOfMyPants · · Score: 1

      I'd say that it didn't kill any ecosystem -- there are have been plenty of RSS-reading extensions, apps/programs, services & sites thriving all along, so the Reader-specific ecosystem of will largely disperse to those. Reader has been losing users for the last year or two because of Google's unpopular changes, so the alternatives started finding ways to absorb ex-Reader users a good while ago.

      I gave up on Reader back when they fucked with the layout & added the black bar, and I'm glad I did so instead of wasting time making CSS stylesheets for Stylish. I'm just as happy using a mix of NewsFox when in Firefox, the built-in Opera newsreader, and Android apps on my phone & Nook Touch.

      --
      Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
    23. Re:delete? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      And how much did you pay for it back then?

      What exactly has that got to do with how long it's been available?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    24. Re:delete? by Ash-Fox · · Score: 1
      --
      Change is certain; progress is not obligatory.
    25. Re: delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please mod parent up! Glad I'm not the only one who remembers Google Notebook.

      I took my exported notes to UberNote, btw, which does a great job.

    26. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nov 11, 2013. Get your years right...

    27. Re:delete? by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Looks like Google has got you covered

    28. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It uses Google Drive on the back end, so it's not like your data would disappear unless Google Drive goes away too.

    29. Re:delete? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The death of Google Reader means the death of eight years of archives. I will no longer be able to search my RSS feeds for something I read three years ago (something I do at least once a month). Any RSS application or service that I switch to won't have that data because it doesn't exist anywhere else.

      So yeah, I'm sticking with Evernote partly because it's more feature-rich, but mostly out of spite.

      I agree with you. I got a lot of starred and tagget things in Reader that I'm referring to periodically and where now have I go to? I' had expirienced the same in 2009 when those guys killed Google Notebooks and get me to flee in Evernote wich I personally found it less convinient. Damn you Google!

    30. Re:delete? by Pseudonym · · Score: 1

      Nope. It doesn't store the actual data from the RSS feed.

      Some feeds only return the last N items, even when the data pointed to is still there. Google Reader archives it all the way back to the first time that someone pulled the feed, and the archives are fully searchable.

      --
      sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f(q{sub f{($f)=@_;print"$f(q{$f});";}f});
  2. Blog Spam - Move along. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't bother clicking the link.

    Yes, we're all mad about reader, and we all should be warned about cloud services shutting down.

    Next post please...

    1. Re:Blog Spam - Move along. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      What is interesting is that they have angered the bloggers with killing reader. Maybe not a lot of people used reader, but apparently the people that do pimp out new google products to the masses. You can't blame them for having an axe to grind.

  3. Google Fool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I propose we now use "google" instead of "fool".

    Google me once, shame on you.
    Google me twice, shame on me.

    1. Re:Google Fool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I propose we now use "google" instead of "fool".

      Google me once, shame on you. Google me twice, shame on me.

      There's an old saying in Mountain View - I know it's in Redmond, probably in Mountain View - that says, Google me once, shame on - shame on you. Google me - you can't get Googled again.

    2. Re:Google Fool by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      That would be funny if "google" wasn't already a verb (in vernacular)

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    3. Re:Google Fool by chrish · · Score: 1

      Google me three times and I'm getting a restraining order, you stalker.

      --
      - chrish
  4. The all ighty ollar? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clearly someone shorted GOOG this morning.

  5. No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Frosty reception? I beg to differ, people all over the internet seem to love it. Design especially.
    http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1aoo1a/google_keep_googles_notetaking_app_is_live_again/
    Check this reddit thread.
    Also it works with Google Now on Android, so i can say "Google..Note to self Fix the printer" and it will take the note, save the text AND audio file.
    I, personally, like it very much. Evernote is good, but something that integrated into android and synced with my Google account is much better for me.

    1. Re:No? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 4, Funny

      Frosty reception? I beg to differ, people all over the internet seem to love it.

      Reddit is "all over the Internet"?

      The world has become such a sad place.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Perhaps it could be called "polarizing" instead? Normally when Google rolls out a product it's met with (from my experience) hesitantly positive reviews. Google Wave got a bunch of comments on- and off-line along the lines of "This looks neat, but I'll wait and see," as did Google Plus, Google Voice, etc. Maybe it sucks, maybe it's great, maybe people are just in a week-long state where they are keenly aware of Google services, whatever.

    3. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is Slashdot, son.

    4. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure reddit was used as a single example amongst many. The reception on G+ has been similarly warm. Probably not as enthusiastic as Google might like, but it's been overall positive from what I've gathered.

    5. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All over? It's "the front page of the internet"!!! ;-)

    6. Re:No? by fermion · · Score: 1, Insightful
      Who to believe, an anonymous coward referencing what is likely Google ASTROTURF on reddit or a random blogger.

      What is clear is that Google is in the habit of ending useful services, so getting used to using this service is probably not indicated.

      --
      "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    7. Re:No? by Dragonslicer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Isn't Gartner the firm that's been wrong about almost everything?

    8. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      red dit sucks, it's true, but it sucks less than slashdot!

    9. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 2nd largest social networking site? 5-10 people? that means facebook only has 15, right?

    10. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      More people on there than here.

    11. Re:No? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

      The Android specific section of reddit is hardly all over the internet. It's a group of people that are interested in Android, and are thus rather more likely than average to be positive towards Google.

      Google appear to have lost their shine of late. Here's where I think they went wrong. Their famous "20% time", where engineers could take a day a week to work on their own pet projects. And if they looked good enough they were made public as Google products. The problem is that such products bred like bunny rabbits, and Google had to start culling them. Apparently not realising that creating a service and then killing it again upsets all the people that adopted the service.

      On top of that they've been increasingly lacking in respect for people's privacy in the past few years.

      The way they are going, they are going to be another Microsoft. Hated by many, but still with the dominant market share in their core product - search.

    12. Re:No? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They are the new and improved Netcraft. If Gartner confirms it you can be sure it isn't happening.

      Seriously, their entire business is providing "intelligence" that contradicts reality for company that find the facts inconvenient.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The world is only sad because you're in it.

    14. Re:No? by spiralx · · Score: 2

      You're forgetting their other service, writing bloated verbiage about last month's overused buzzword and marketing it as cutting edge market analysis for clueless C-level executives.

    15. Re:No? by node+3 · · Score: 1

      Second largest? Yeah, right... Twitter and YouTube have far more people using them.

      This "fact" you are parroting is an unsubstantiated "report" that completely defies observation.

    16. Re:No? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. They are always spot on. You just need to invert what they claim... or in other words you're holding it wrong

    17. Re:No? by TheSeatOfMyPants · · Score: 1

      It doesn't work on most Android devices, as the vast majority haven't been granted an Android 4.0 upgrade even if they're physically capable of easily running it. (Didn't Android 2.x just recently stop being the most prevalent?)

      I'm starting to worry that Google's becoming too complacent about its users' goodwill for its own good... First it didn't upgrade Market versions prior to 2.3 to Play, breaking search so users had to choose & mark things for download using their computers. Now it's releasing a cloud app that's more simplistic than many popular apps or games available for quite old devices (possibly as early as 1.6) yet coded it to only be compatible with v4, locking out the vast majority of Android device owners. None of that's even taking into consideration the potential long-term effect of users rejecting new Google services, which is what 98% of the people I'm seeing comment outside that Reddit thread (on sites like Slashdot or Ars Technica) state they're doing.

      I just recently got my first Android smartphone (LG Marquee, which runs 2.3.6), but I have the unpleasant feeling that it's just in time to see the empire start rapidly losing ground to competitors that haven't become as lax about customer satisfaction. Hopefully the competition will goose Google into waking up enough to pay more attention before it's too late...

      --
      Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
    18. Re:No? by SlippyToad · · Score: 1

      I knew a Gartner analyst for awhile. She focused on one of our particular vendors and it seemed as if she was far, far, far too cozy with them.

      One of my co-workers believed she was on the take, and I found it hard to dispute him. She would emit the most insane bullshit, obviously promoting the company she was supposed to be critically analyzing.

      I personally think the entire company functions on favors and bribes, and has zero integrity at all. Gartner people made me feel kind of slimy every time they visited.

      --
      One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / the next it's rolling over me / I can get back on / I can get back on
    19. Re:No? by RobertLTux · · Score: 1

      My biggest problem with Wave is it seemed to be incredibly sloppy coding

      the SETTINGS thing never being written??

      also i dare anyone to show me a way to install Wave on an existing server without doing a full rebuild of the server OS

      it takes a base install of which exact OS and then what 3 different frameworks??

      --
      Any person using FTFY or editing my postings agrees to a US$50.00 charge
  6. just another excuse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to take the power out of your hands and your mind. Uploading is encouraged only so they can exploit and profit from your data.

    1. Re:just another excuse by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      The alternative is you pay for it with money instead of data. Its your choice, no one is forcing it on you.

  7. I thought features were passe? by timeOday · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I am starting to feel like a relic, because in my world, running a buch of feature-rich applications on a powerful computer with a large screen still seems like a great thing to do most of the time. All I see on the web is how "most people" don't use the full power of Word/Powerpoint/Outlook, therefore it should be removed. And then Microsoft comes out with Metro just to confirm my fears.

    It's nice to see an application (yeah, I typed out the whole word!) slammed for being too simplistic.

    1. Re:I thought features were passe? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hey, maybe your Rest Home and mine can play Battleship together. Over modems!

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    2. Re:I thought features were passe? by Pope · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, Microsoft came out with Metro because they don't know what the fuck they're doing.

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    3. Re:I thought features were passe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're probably seeing this because really people don't use computers for anything anymore - they're used in the workplace which increasingly is making use of LOB applications with the decline of real desktop software. Eventually all development will shift to the cloud and business will follow with it (no sense using unmaintained/unmaintainable software). The gaming community has long since jumped ship to their XBox/PlayStation consoles leaving only the people that play Crysis behind. Heck, even the WoW community are better served moving to Mac and those people don't strike me as all-you-can-eat-buffet application users. I remember when I used to run executables willy-nilly from 3.5" disks with impunity but the modern computer user is conditioned in a fear-climate to not click on anything (i.e. Computers went from objects of intrigue to objects of danger). It's really no wonder no-one uses them anymore.

      The people we think are using computers are really doing nothing more than looking at Facebook pages which is something they could do equally well on an iPad or any tablet. It's one step above reading a newspaper. Even nVidia is now pushing the centralized compute model so it can't be long before we're all back working on Z80s pulling our graphics from big-iron a state over. If this comes to pass we'll be a laughing stock for having given up all our computational power for better battery life while checking cat pictures for $200/mo.

    4. Re:I thought features were passe? by viperidaenz · · Score: 3, Funny

      Note application only takes notes, doesn't do my laundry.
      Why won't it wash the dishes!?!?!??

    5. Re:I thought features were passe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great! I will slide Internet CD-ROM to my CD-drive and we can play it over Internet!

    6. Re:I thought features were passe? by Brett+Buck · · Score: 2

      I don't features should be removed, unless removing them makes the programmers *make the features that are there work properly*. Maybe I am also a relic (ok, not maybe, definitely), but I get rather irritated when Word (or any other similar crap application) adds some more features or changes the UI just for the sake of doing it, and the same f*cking bug that sometimes for some unknown reason corrupts the document and won't let me save it still existing pretty much exactly like it worked in 1997.

      Wasting time adding features while serious bugs are left untouched is what p*sses people off. Of course it's a lot easier to ad copy saying "n Exciting New Features" than it is "Word 2007, 45% fewer fatal bugs"

            Brett

    7. Re:I thought features were passe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's nice to see an application (yeah, I typed out the whole word!) slammed for being too simplistic.

      Yeah, exactly. What's with all these people using shovels? Just use a god damned backhoe, shovels are too simplistic.

    8. Re:I thought features were passe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh. The first "distributed" application I ever wrote was Battleships running on two BBC Micros connected with a null modem cable. I'm now depressed to realise that I'm closer to the rest home than that long distant event.

    9. Re:I thought features were passe? by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

      There's a NO CARRIER death joke in there somewhere.

    10. Re:I thought features were passe? by steelfood · · Score: 1

      And didn't really want to do it anyway. You can tell right off the bat that Metro was implemented half-assed. It's a marketing gimmick, not a technical project (which would've overhauled the entire Windows UI, not just tack a "start screen" onto it).

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    11. Re:I thought features were passe? by spiralx · · Score: 1

      I'm not quite sure what you consider a technical project then, as Metro consists of a new application mode, a new set of APIs for implementing applications, and a completely new style for every part of the GUI.

    12. Re:I thought features were passe? by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      NO CARRIER but you sank my submarine?

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    13. Re:I thought features were passe? by Tom · · Score: 1

      Well, it depends.

      Real applications I really want to run on my desktop Mac.

      There are two classes of apps that I want to run online, though. Either as a cloud/online app or on the web, I mostly don't care which it is.

      One, teamwork stuff. Redmine or a Wiki or other collaboration tools really rock if you've got a team distributed around the world.

      Two, "always with me" stuff. I use Evernote and tools like that because there's some stuff I know I will need when I least expect it, and then it is really good to take out your smartphone and be able to access it.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    14. Re:I thought features were passe? by SlippyToad · · Score: 1

      Come on, this is Slashdot. Actually knowing about a Microsoft product is forbidden.

      --
      One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / the next it's rolling over me / I can get back on / I can get back on
    15. Re:I thought features were passe? by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Heck, even the WoW community are better served moving to Mac

      Or they would be if performance on the Mac wasn't ass-slow compared to the PC. Granted, it's nowhere near the client disaster that Diablo 3 was, but overall it doesn't seem like Blizzard can make a well-tuned Mac client.

  8. How can you trust google not to delete it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Said everyone with a gmail account. Honestly, even if they do you will still have a copy of your data synced on your devices and the precedent is that you'll be able to get your data anyway.

    1. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 0

      Said everyone with a gmail account

      I have a gmail account. I store absolutely nothing on it. It's all routed to my private IMAP server.

    2. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 1, Funny

      I have a gmail account. I store absolutely nothing on it. It's all routed to my private IMAP server.

      Well isn't that special. La-dee-da.

      Why doesn't EVERYBODY do run their own IMPA server?

      Oh, how it must frustrate you to live in a world of rubes.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    3. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by BenoitRen · · Score: 2

      Why doesn't EVERYBODY do run their own IMPA server?

      Because not everyone is Zelda.

    4. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Most devices *do not* store their entire imap/exchange inbox. That's nuts to expect otherwise. You're thinking POP3 days. Even that, I bet Droids only store the last X messages (iphones too?)

    5. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by rgriff59 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I keep hearing phrases like, "Don't worry. They will give you a way to get your data." For some reason, that is supposed to be a determining factor. So what?

      Google says "Here is a fantastic new app to use. Please make part of your daily workflow." Some arbitrary amount of time later, Google says "Nevermind." If I have indeed made it a part of my workflow, I am required to change my workflow on their schedule on their notice. Maybe you are lucky enough to have never had life fall apart. Maybe you've never been so busy taking care of life changing issues, you could miss everything short of bombs exploding in your path. At such times, the last thing you need is for stupid little things, like a note taking app, to require attention.

      As Google has a proven record of discarding their "Wow, Cool, check this out!" technologies in a fairly short time, the risk of putting the newest into a position where it will exclusively control an important workflow is too high from my perspective. Sure, I can get my data. Then what do I do with it? I have this great XML dump that nothing else can make sense of. I need something to rely on, free or not.

      The fact that they announced this right on the heels of their spring cleaning product killing spree shows that as a company, they don't care. I, as an individual have the same sentiment about their new product. This has to be one of the worst marketing strategies ever attempted.

    6. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by shellbeach · · Score: 2

      Geez, it's called innovation. You try some things out ... some take off, some don't; the ones that work you keep, the ones that don't you ditch. But at least Google keeps trying things out. Would you prefer it if they always just pushed out the same-old, same-old?

      Personally, I find that I've stopped using Google's failed offerings (Google Notebook, Google Reader) long before they get officially canned, and I presume most other people have too. But the consolation is that they were only developed through a business model that constantly pushes the envelope -- if Google had been sticking to core services, neither Notebook nor Reader would ever have seen the light of day to being with.

    7. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Google says "Here is a fantastic new app to use. Please make part of your daily workflow." Some arbitrary amount of time later, Google says "Nevermind." If I have indeed made it a part of my workflow, I am required to change my workflow on their schedule on their notice. Maybe you are lucky enough to have never had life fall apart. Maybe you've never been so busy taking care of life changing issues, you could miss everything short of bombs exploding in your path. At such times, the last thing you need is for stupid little things, like a note taking app, to require attention.

      I have been, and at that stage I wasn't worrying about either "workflow" or software applications.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    8. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by rgriff59 · · Score: 1

      Strange world where Keep qualifies as "innovation" or "pushing the envelope." I suspect you can find lots of Evernote users who disagree with both of those assertions. Pretty, maybe useful to some, but Keep doesn't sound very ground breaking.

      When they innovate, I pay attention. If they are playing catch up, I'd prefer to wait until the dust settles a bit. They do innovate, a few examples:

      Wave - very neat, should have been aimed at corporations not general public, it would have been very useful for non-geographically determined teams.

      Android - awesome. When I see a six year old playing with a Nabi tablet I realize how brilliantly their loosely controlled creation fosters innovation in the market in ways Apple's iMonopoly never will.

      Web Speech API - potentially very useful, especially if it was supported in their mobile Chrome version. Until then, just a cute toy. Being put forward as an open standard gives one hope that other implementations will appear so it won't just disappear if it is judged not cost effective.

      There are many others, but Keep just doesn't make the same list. There are lots of existing models to have studied before jumping into the market, so maybe this commodity item has a hope of lasting though a few springs. We'll see.

    9. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No once can be expected to maintain a service indefinitely, if I have the choice between bullshit promises of doing so and plausible promises of data availability I will go for the later every time. That's the best you can ever trust to get for a service with ongoing costs.

    10. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by shellbeach · · Score: 1

      I wasn't referring to Keep in particular (which I agree isn't particularly innovative except perhaps in its sheer simplicity, which I do rather appreciate). But the Google cycle of trying lots of new things out and seeing what sticks is something I very much approve of. One thing you have to give Google credit for -- they haven't allowed themselves to stagnate like Apple has in the last few years. And maybe it's all just a ploy to protect their search advertising revenue, but either way the results have been amazing.

    11. Re:How can you trust google not to delete it by rgriff59 · · Score: 1

      There are obviously very polar opinions on this topic. The important thing to realize is that both of the poles are right, but only for the holders of the opinion.

      If you don't mind constantly swimming in Google's petri dish, dive in and enjoy. At the end of the experiment, there will likely be more petri dishes to explore. If on the other hand, you prefer your basic use technology to just work and remain invisible, you'll probably want to be a bit skeptical of some of their offerings.

      I find that Google's decision making, both on what to release and what to kill, borders on immature, especially given their resources and market position. Others seem to be happy with it, and I wish them all the best. If there was a universal best way, it probably would have been found already, and we wouldn't have much to discuss.

  9. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You can't use the word scroogle without sounding like the worlds biggest Microsoft shill.

  10. They should sign Carly Rae Jepsen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    as pitchman, and rename the product "Keep it Maybe".

    1. Re:They should sign Carly Rae Jepsen by noh8rz10 · · Score: 2

      no, sign PSY, "Goog-nam Style!" My meme is more recent than yours!

    2. Re:They should sign Carly Rae Jepsen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      • "Your my cousin."
      • "Maeby."
    3. Re:They should sign Carly Rae Jepsen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As Grumpy Cat says: "NO"

    4. Re:They should sign Carly Rae Jepsen by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      In Korea, only old people use memes.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  11. Google notebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As I said previously, I learned my lesson in relying on them for anything.

    Reader, Notebook, Labs, Wave.
    Never forgiven.

  12. Seems a bit biased by stewsters · · Score: 1

    Features laughable compared to Evernote? I used to use a text file. Before that a piece of paper. What kind of useful features does it have? Can I search Evernote from gmail? Can I access it from Google Drive? Maybe once they implement these essential features I will look at it.

  13. What the Dickens are you talking about? by tepples · · Score: 0
    Anonymous Coward wrote:

    You can't use the word scroogle without sounding like the worlds biggest Microsoft shill.

    That or a fan of A Christmas Carol, whose main character's surname is one letter off from "Scroogle".

    1. Re:What the Dickens are you talking about? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      I've never heard of a character named "Shcroogle".

    2. Re:What the Dickens are you talking about? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anonymous Coward wrote:

      You can't use the word scroogle without sounding like the worlds biggest Microsoft shill.

      That or a fan of A Christmas Carol, whose main character's surname is one letter off from "Scroogle".

      The additional L required to typo "Scroogle" from "Scrooge" is clear on the other side of a QWERTY keyboard from the G or E you would need to fat-finger. If you have that fat of fingers to make that typo, being a Microsoft shill is perhaps the LEAST of your problems, for once.

      (and for the shut-in smartasses out there: while L and G are closer to each other on a DVORAK keyboard, there are still two keys between them, so this analysis still stands)

      When spoken aloud, you would somehow need to accidentally change the G sound in "Scrooge" from a hard G to a soft G, AND add in an extra syllable. That's not likely to happen, barring secret surgical implants or genetic mutation experiments conducted by Microsoft to make this sort of accident easy to make.

      So, no matter how you look at it, they're going to be a Microsoft shill if they're using "Scroogle" in standard conversation.

    3. Re:What the Dickens are you talking about? by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      The l is close to the o, you could easily slip with your right hand while your left is dealing with g and e.

      I doubt I'd ever make that particular typo though. Especially twice. And especially when clearly trying to rhyme with Google and "you-gle".

      I doubt they are an MS shill though. More likely an unaligned troll, or possibly an MS fanboy. I just don't think anybody can possible believe scroogle will come into popular parlance. Although they did release that godawful commercial, so who knows.

  14. I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by Assmasher · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Google can't be trusted not to pull the plug on a service which people have come to rely on" - They've just now realized this? LOL.

    Most people on /. have known this for years.

    Google knows what it's doing when it comes to search (including maps), and (after several years) Android - everything else is stuff built/rolled out/supported by disparate uncoordinated groups with no coherent strategy or purpose beyond "hey, this looks like something the PR guys would like."

    --
    Loading...
    1. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by Jahava · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Google knows what it's doing when it comes to search (including maps), and (after several years) Android - everything else is stuff built/rolled out/supported by disparate uncoordinated groups with no coherent strategy or purpose beyond "hey, this looks like something the PR guys would like."

      What a stupid statement. "They only knew what they were doing those times they did well." Most of their projects, with the exception of search, started out as disparate uncoordinated groups with no coherent strategy.

    2. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by Assmasher · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What a stupid statement.

      Oh, the irony. Talk about stupid... Maps and Android were both strategic acquisitions of existing companies.

      --
      Loading...
    3. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by neminem · · Score: 2

      I've understood for years that I couldn't rely on anything in the cloud that was new, experimental, or not terribly well known. That makes perfect sense. I knew, too, that I couldn't rely on any particular *feature* of any software in the cloud, because an automatic update could remove or break the feature. Still, I thought it exceedingly unlikely that any software that *wasn't* new, *wasn't* experimental, and *was* quite popular, would just suddenly disappear, for any reason other than "the company went under or was bought", both things that I can't really imagine happening to Google. The fact that they decided to ax Reader, means they might decide to ax *anything*.

    4. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by metamatic · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've understood for years that I couldn't rely on anything in my butt that was new, experimental, or not terribly well known.

      Man, cloud to butt keeps delivering in hilarity...

      --
      GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    5. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by neminem · · Score: 2

      Epic! Googled it, there is indeed a Firefox version of that, too. Which is now installed. This rivals the Youtube Moronizer for hilarity in simplicity, text-modification-wise. (For context, see also: http://www.dorktower.com/2010/09/24/5585

      Yeah, I definitely don't think it's a good idea to rely on any technology in my butt, either.

    6. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by hairyfish · · Score: 0

      Which makes it even funnier. Google's best product was/is Search, which was invented before it was a company. The only two other useful products, Maps and Android were acquisitions. So the sum output of all those nerds at Google and the billions in R&D is a whole bunch of mediocre rubbish that isn't really that good.

    7. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by bfandreas · · Score: 2

      Why would I need a browser extension that transforms butt to butt? Does it change the character encoding? Is there more to it than changing each occurrence of butt to butt?

      In other news: set the phasors to "very install on my PHB's PC". It's a matter of self-defense, really. Since I can't sue for mental anguish this might open him up to a sexual harrassment lawsuit when all he goes on about is butts.

      --
      20 minutes into the future
    8. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by Assmasher · · Score: 1

      Well, we're (me included) overlooking Gmail, but that really is about it (Gmail is a commodity anyhow.)

      It really doesn't seem like much return on the billions and billions spent on operating costs PER QUARTER does it?

      --
      Loading...
    9. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by Assmasher · · Score: 1

      Bless you for that.

      --
      Loading...
    10. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by SlippyToad · · Score: 1

      I must just be having that kind of day. So I install cloud-to-butt, and then I go read the Wikipedia entry on Cloud computing.

      Beavis immediately appeared in my cube and started snickering.

      --
      One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel / the next it's rolling over me / I can get back on / I can get back on
    11. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by neminem · · Score: 1

      Yep, that was the first place I went after installing it, too. I especially liked the part about the Threats and opportunities of my Butt: "56% of European decision-makers estimate that my Butt is a priority between 2013 and 2014."

    12. Re:I am Jack's total lack of surprise... by hairyfish · · Score: 1

      I didn't, I think Gmail is rubbish. Yes it works but it is a horrible interface for such a simple application

  15. Evernote competition? No. by Grizzley9 · · Score: 2

    For some things simplicity is best. iOS Notes or Google Tasks where you have just basic information and easy input for simple things and it can be synced. Google Keep is good for a notepad/post-it note app currently, a scratch pad. But it is a long ways away from being a robust note storing and organizing tool such as SimpleNote or Evernote or OneNote. They should have just bought one of those type and incorporated it if they wanted to compete.

    Plus now with their credibility in killing apps, no one will use this for serious note taking. If they don't, then whats the point for Google? Not much to be gleaned from scanning scratch notes, at least they didn't think so when they got rid of Google Notebook.

  16. Forget about it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am burned by the Reader removal. I lost trust in Google and will now wait a few years before trying their new services.

  17. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google doesn't pay *me* you worthless peon. *I* pay it to collect your data. uhah ha Mu Ha HA MU HA HA!

  18. Re:Oh shit!!! by Neuroelectronic · · Score: 1

    If you think it's bad here, you should see reddit. "Opinion setting" at it's most caustic and depraved state.

  19. Re:Evernote competition? No. by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

    Just don't try and attach video clips or pictures to your Evernotes or you'll run out of your 60MB/month and have to pay for premium service.

  20. Great! "Delete" is an awesome band by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    I am more than glad that Google has become a music label, and that they signed Delete, they make very fine punk rock.
    Also, naming their recording and artists's lair "The Keep" is mighty fun.

    1. Re:Great! "Delete" is an awesome band by Improbus · · Score: 2

      When I hear "Delete" I hear a Cyberman saying it. WTF is wrong with me?

    2. Re:Great! "Delete" is an awesome band by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is nothing wrong with you. Be patient. Man will be reborn as Cyberman. In the meantime, DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!

    3. Re:Great! "Delete" is an awesome band by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Absolutely nothing.

  21. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or someone who distrusterd Google before it was cool to do so.
    Yes, I am a cynical hipster. A cynister if you will.

  22. I don't see why everybody is freaking out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google Keep is not an Evernote competitor, it's not a Pintrest competitor. It is just a simple sticky note app that works well across platforms. Like Apple's notepad app except better. I don't know why everyone thinks it's some sort of Evernote competitor because it clearly isn't. It's for making sticky notes for yourself to just jot down ideas and reminder that are accessible from the cloud rather than saved onto a machine.

  23. A bit obvious by Stu101 · · Score: 1

    Ok, so we know that Google have issues with trusting apps at the moment.

    It would be easier if Google just bought em. Ready made solution requiring little "start from scratch and try and compete"

    That way, they get a ready made market. Few people are going to abandon it because it forms part of their "Digital life"

    --
    http://www.writeitfor.us - Writing IT for the IT generation.
    1. Re:A bit obvious by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      but google has an army of engineers with no worthwhile projects to assign them to.

      what I don't get is why they didn't just make reader use drive as the backend like they did for this - except from the standpoint that reader was losing them adviews on the web.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  24. "Beta" means something different to Google. by mistapotta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As I remind my students, "Beta" to Google means they haven't figured out how to profit on it. If they can find a way to profit on it, it then becomes one of their many appliances. If they can't, it gets killed. Clearly, Google didn't have a way to profit on Reader, as they couldn't on Wave, as they couldn't on Health. If they can find a way to profit from Keep, it'll keep. Otherwise it'll be gone like the rest.

    1. Re:"Beta" means something different to Google. by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

      I would have though a very detailed profile of someone's interests would be quite profitable based on their line of business.

    2. Re:"Beta" means something different to Google. by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      I would have though a very detailed profile of someone's interests would be quite profitable based on their line of business.

      That what my initial skepticism of Google services was based on. Yahoo includes (often annoying) ads in its services - but not Google. I can trust more Yahoo services because they at least try to profit of it. Not so with the Google services: they are "free" and nice, but in the end, unfortunately short-lived.

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    3. Re:"Beta" means something different to Google. by rsborg · · Score: 1

      As I remind my students, "Beta" to Google means they haven't figured out how to profit on it.
      If they can find a way to profit on it, it then becomes one of their many appliances. If they can't, it gets killed.
      Clearly, Google didn't have a way to profit on Reader, as they couldn't on Wave, as they couldn't on Health.
      If they can find a way to profit from Keep, it'll keep. Otherwise it'll be gone like the rest.

      The only issue I have with Google is that their core mission (free services for most people) seems to inherently be unprofitable unless they have another profit stream (which they do, to sell Ads). If you can't imagine how Google will serve more Ads through a given product, it will likely go away at some point in the future (that or you need to exercise more creativity, which the folks at GooglePlex have a lot of).

      It's just like with Microsoft (product must extend Windows/Office monopolies in a way that doesn't diminsh them), or Apple (must look and feel Apple-ish, and promote the iTunes ecosystem). For Google, this is Ads. This isn't bad, but you better get used to being sold to advertisers and to have adverts being presented to you.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
    4. Re:"Beta" means something different to Google. by geekoid · · Score: 1

      I think google needs a person to run and make money off these little apps.
      The potential is there for all of them.
      They have forgotten how the internet ecosystem works.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  25. Remember Chrome or Android? by elcheesmo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember when Chrome first came. I thought Google was wasting their time because Firefox was clearly the best browser, and there was no reason to think it would ever stop being the best. And the browser market already seemed too crowed with IE, Safari, Firefox, and Opera all competing for market share.

    Keep now is not what Keep will be in the future. Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Chrome, Android, and many other Google products are almost indistinguishable from what they were during their first iteration. And of those I listed, Gmail and Google Maps are the only ones I would say were actually better from the competition from day 1.

    Evernote should be sweating at least a little bit.

    1. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by doconnor · · Score: 2

      As I recall Google search was better then the competition from day 1. Unlike it competition, it used all the words you entered in its search, wasn't flooded with flashy ads and had its vastly superior page-rank algorithm.

    2. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      Initially, Google search wasn't indexing as much of the Web as Yahoo or AllNet(?) or even aging Altavista.

      Google has caught up in about a year, but initially, their only advantage was that the Google was very fast, had strict word matching, was very light-weight (aka modem-friendly) and had less limits on the number of results.

      The "page rank" appeared much later, when they have vastly out-indexed the rest of the search engines.

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
    3. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Also, the weren't listing return alphabetically...Like some yahoo I could mention~

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    4. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhh, what? Google has used PageRank from the beginning. Its first incarnation was called "BackRub", which comes from the fact that it would weigh web sites' relevance behind their backs (like giving a backrub) based on the links that point to the site.

      And PageRank is the main reason why Google was so much better than the rest of the bunch at the time.

    5. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by ElusiveJoe · · Score: 1

      I still don't know what Chrome is better at. Except very heavy and annoying marketing.

    6. Re:Remember Chrome or Android? by ThePhilips · · Score: 1

      Could be. All I remember clear that Google - at least among techies - gained traction because they were using by default AND and not OR to join the search terms. Some search engines weren't even allowing ANDing. If you knew several fitting keywords, then the Google results were spot on, without all the rubbish other engines tended to add.

      (*) Anybody remember the Google Directory?

      --
      All hope abandon ye who enter here.
  26. Independently arriving at "Scroogled" by tepples · · Score: 1

    The additional L required to typo "Scroogle" from "Scrooge" is clear on the other side of a QWERTY keyboard

    That's not what I was trying to imply. One could have arrived at "Google is acting like Scrooge" pun independently from Microsoft's ad campaign that began in November 2012. I just checked Google Search (Search tools > Any time > Custom range) for January 2008 through October 2012, and there were plenty of hits for "Scroogled". Is a short story by Cory Doctorow enough?

  27. Re:Well, you know the saying. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    Correction - you can't use the word "scroogle" without sounding like someone employed by Microsoft.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  28. Keep and Evernote both unsafe by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "how can I trust them with this when they just killed reader?"

    You can't trust any company, especially a company that is providing you with service without charge. The "cloud" is only worshiped by those who blindly follow the hype and refuse to face elementary principles of personal security.

    Those who have their eyes open and can think for themselves will store data in multiple places which they own and control, and only use the "cloud" as free encrypted backup, if at all.

  29. At least if Google does retire Keep... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It will make a really embarrassing article title, "Google decides not to keep Google Keep"

    1. Re:At least if Google does retire Keep... by game+kid · · Score: 1

      ...or "Google Keeps On (Not) 'Keep'-ing On".

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  30. "Serious note taking" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I really agree with a lot of points you're making, but there's something about this whole thing that, to me, speaks volumes about the absurdity of computing today.

    What the hell is "serious note taking"? Is there really some situation where I would need to sync my notes across my desktop and mobile phone, where I couldn't just put it in my phone to begin with? Isn't this all what saving to your computer, or in a cloud folder, or a text editor is all about?

    I really don't mean to knock Evernote--I understand why people like it--and also can understand people's skepticism of where Google has been going since management changed there, especially given their recent track history. But I also think there's a tempest in a teacup quality to all of this. I mean, the notetaking apps I use don't sync across anything and they're fine. I'm sure Google Keep is fine for 90% of people. I suspect that a large proportion of people using Evernote overvalue their notes, even as a large proportion of people make good use of it.

    The reason why Google can integrate these sorts of services, and people use them, is because their value to most people (*most people* being the key here) is so small, but in aggregate is so large to Google.

    I worry about Google, and the crap they're pulling makes me take a second use at Evernote, Dropbox, etc. However, even if those services disappeared together with those of Google, would it really hurt me? No.

    There's something scary to me when we talk about Google Keep as if it's a nuclear powerplant control system, or a word processing program, or something like that. Some people just want to jot down notes.

  31. hands off my contacts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Evernote app on Android has the permission to read your contacts. No thank you. I downloaded Keep for that reason alone. Plus it's fast and easy to use. So far I like it.

    1. Re:hands off my contacts by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      The Evernote app on Android has the permission to read your contacts. No thank you. I downloaded Keep for that reason alone. Plus it's fast and easy to use. So far I like it.

      Personally, I keep all my contacts in a dead tree notebook and only ever enter them onto my phone via a special one-time encryption app I had written for me by my handler in Moscow.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  32. They ALL cancel products and services arbitrarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Welcome to the wonderful world of SaaS and the clould. Microsoft too, of course, cancels languages and abandons technologies according to its own internal "logic" which ignores both developers and users. Such is the world. Stick with local applications. Stick with Java or open source languages that won't disappear, or morph into some other "solution" to a problem you never had.

  33. Google promotes tech by BlueCoder · · Score: 1

    I think the case can be made that Google in all it's little projects are pushing tech by being a test bed. I do believe their thinking is to put up any service for free five years as a massive research projects. Their first question isn't if it's profitable but rather rather how useful it is. They leave thoughts of profitability to be answered further down the line. At the end of life of the project if something is just self sustaining I do believe they would rather have someone take over now that they did all the deep market analysis and research on it. If something can be massively profitable then they will maintain it. Sort of like how it's founders came up with a useful search engine.

    In other words they do things just because they are interesting. No guarantee to be there in a hundred years. Their main motivation is the research. Google does massive public R&D. Not all of which would be protected by copyrights and patents. I do believe their main goal is to PUSH TECH. To do the research to the point that someone else could take over. A build the prototype and the interest and market will come attitude.

  34. This won't be good... by alteveer · · Score: 1

    ..until I can paste images into it, and paste into lists. I hate to say this, but Microsoft Outlook 2007's compose email is pretty much what I am looking for =)

    1. Re:This won't be good... by SScorpio · · Score: 2

      Check out Microsoft OneNote. It gives you greater flexibility than just using Outlook at a note keeping tool. The hardest part will be adjusting your workflow, OneNote is free form so it's difficult to jump into as you are learning what organization method works best for you versus adjusting to one imposed by the application you are using.

    2. Re:This won't be good... by spiralx · · Score: 1

      Just checked, and you can paste images straight into a note in Evernote's website, and use ordereded and unordered lists. The note interface is pretty much the same as for an Outlook email - title line, formatting controls, body text.

  35. Seriously Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can I to be shilled by you to post utter crap? Look at the app review and you see most people are happy with it. Keep was just released and in its infancy, so it won't have all features yet. It integrates great with Android and has a web front. Reader complaints? You sound like an asshole. Your days just dumped you before prom and you want to complain to everyone that Prom has failed to support your sad life. Go to Freely it works great. Subscribe to the feeds on Google+ or shut the fuck up. Its a free service you didn't lose material goods for the service. Stop with the entitlement shit.

  36. Re:Evernote competition? No. by bonehead · · Score: 1

    Personally, I think this one has an excellent chance of sticking around for the same reason that Voice is sticking around. It's a great feature for Android.

  37. Re:Oh shit!!! by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That is what I call "the batshit brigade" as these people treat corps like fucking ballclubs. I've noticed its primarily the big three, Apple, Google, and MSFT, but to a lesser extent you get the pro *.A.A "Anything a corp does is great because free market herpa derp!" and the pro gov "America Fuck Yeah!" types but not nearly as bad as the big three, you'd think they were a fucking ballclub.

    Now as far as Google...why SHOULD you trust them for a service you depend on after Reader? Its quite obvious there is a metric that if a service doesn't hit Google pulls the plug but they won't tell the user what the metric is, so why should I trust them? As much as I think Windows 8 is a flaming turd this is one thing I have to give MSFT credit for as I can tell you to the day when XP dies, when Vista dies, when 7 dies, and when their Office suites die so I really don't have to give a shit about the metrics. I just look at the date of EOL and that is that. Of course since their software works just fine after EOL (I should know as i had to support several Win2K units until last year) I don't even have to worry about that if I don't want to, but its nice to know.

    If Google wants us to depend on their services then they need to give us SOMETHING, anything, that will let us gauge what the support cycle is gonna be. A minimum support date like MSFT, publishing the current userbase along with the minimum number required for them to support it (which would have fixed the Reader problem as those that like Reader could have tried to drum up enough converts to fulfil the metric) or some other gauge so we have a damned clue as to how long its gonna be supported. As it is any service they have could disappear tomorrow because some PHB decides it doesn't meet a metric which we don't even know about and that stinks.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  38. Re:Evernote competition? No. by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

    Last time I tried Evernote I was only able to attach a single picture to a note, making it useless for what I wanted it for at the time, and yeah their limit for the free service if pretty low. On the other hand, Keep does seem to do this but has few other features. Personally, I'm hoping that they're taking the "start simple, make it perfect" approach and adding features as they're developed. As it is now, you could replicate the app with a simple DropBox extension.

  39. Re:Well, you know the saying. by CODiNE · · Score: 1

    That would have been more believable if you replied with his username or real name.

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
  40. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Worse yet, you can't use the word scroogle without sounding like Louie Gohmert.

    What a truly fitting name that guy has, he's such a gohmert.

  41. Embrace, Extend, Extinguish! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Google Reader is a clear example of Google using the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy. They create a service/app in a popular market segment, dominate that market, then kill off the product and try to force users to migrate their other services that they have more control over like Google+.
    iGoogle and Buzz are the same.

    1. Re:Embrace, Extend, Extinguish! by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

      They're like a dog in the manger. They can't make money off it, but they can keep you from making money off it. And they've bought up other companies just to shut them down. If you don't want to call it malicious (or "evil", if you will) you at least have to question the management decisions.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    2. Re:Embrace, Extend, Extinguish! by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 1

      Buzz sucked ass. Google+ replaced and is a much better product....iGoogle is for old people and sucked and does not need a replacement....Reader does not integrate to G+ so its features will likely be integrated into a service that does work with G+.

    3. Re:Embrace, Extend, Extinguish! by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      iGoogle is for old people

      Shouldn't that be gmail?

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    4. Re:Embrace, Extend, Extinguish! by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Why are young people so anxious to jump into a closed ecosystem like Blackberry chat, or facebook messaging. Gmail is a perfectly fine implementation of an open standard that allows you to freely communicate across many platforms. It is not your best interest to let yourself be corralled into a closed communication system. We solved these problems years ago, but young people want to go back to AOL keywords.

  42. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

    [Spirit of Internet Present]: My time with you is at an end, Ebenezer Scroogle. Will you profit from what I've shown you of the good in most men's hearts?

    [Ebenezer Scroogle]: Profiting from what's in men's hearts is what search engines are all about!

  43. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Even Microsoft comes up with something good once in a while (*). "Scroogle" in the context of privacy is pretty good.

    (*) Once in a looong while.

  44. Welcome to free cloud services.... by tokencode · · Score: 2

    Welcome to the world of free cloud based services, where you the user don't really matter, you own nothing and you should be happy Google gave you the privilege of using something as long as they did....

  45. A better comparison by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Google Reader: Survived eight years DESPITE BEING FREE

    Evernote: Has only five eight years history BUT CHARGES MONEY FOR APPS AND SERVICES.

    Google Keep: ALSO FREE JUST LIKE READER

    Huh, I wonder which one may be around after eight more years - the one that pays for it's own existence or the one that's like a pony in the stables of a rich guy with a bad gambling problem?.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:A better comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fair point. But, then again, just because something is charged for, doesn't necessarily mean that it "pays for its own existence". The company may lose money and the service may vanish for any number of reasons - bad decisions on mgmt's part, fickle public taste, buyout by a competitor, or just the random stuff of business.

      If you're asking which is more LIKELY to stick around, I'd have to say it's impossible to tell.

      I don't use either. I keep trying Evernote, and then going back to my little spiral-bound notebook that fits in my shirt pocket.

    2. Re:A better comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google Reader: Survived eight years DESPITE BEING FREE

      Evernote: Has only five eight years history BUT CHARGES MONEY FOR APPS AND SERVICES.

      Google Keep: ALSO FREE JUST LIKE READER

      Huh, I wonder which one may be around after eight more years - the one that pays for it's own existence or the one that's like a pony in the stables of a rich guy with a bad gambling problem?.

      The fact that it's part of Drive ought to allay most fears about it going away: http://answerguy.com/2013/03/21/google-keep-no-evernote-replacement/

  46. Headline? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3

    I'm not sure if it's better to blame Google for picking a stupid product name, or the headline writer, but I'm still not sure what "Google Keep Labelled "Delete"" means - even after I finally realised that "Keep" is the product, and not a verb. Who's doing the labelling?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  47. Re:Evernote competition? No. by rjstanford · · Score: 1

    Personally, I think this one has an excellent chance of sticking around for the same reason that Voice is sticking around. It's a great feature for Android.

    Yup. In the same way that having a service that made it easy for people to get self-selected articles from authors they know and trust delivered directly to their phones to, uh, "Read" when they had a spare minute would be a great feature too...

    The real issue with the google distrust is their current opaqueness.

    --
    You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
  48. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You can't use the word scroogle without sounding like the worlds biggest Microsoft shill.

    That's just an excuse for google apologists to dismiss real issues because that term was used long before Microsoft used it, and the fact is they have a point. The reality is google apologists have always dismissed criticism of google as microsoft 'shilling' or apple 'fanboys'.

  49. Re:Oh shit!!! by steelfood · · Score: 2

    What Microsoft gets, and that no other tech company except maybe IBM does (and probably pioneered, no less), is that people were able to run their legacy 16-bit applications up until 64-bit Windows.

    And I expect the legacy 32-bit emulation layer for Windows is going to be here to stay, because I don't really see humanity pushing the limits of 64-bit computing for a long, long time.

    --
    "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
  50. Re:Oh shit!!! by David_Hart · · Score: 1

    >

    Now as far as Google...why SHOULD you trust them for a service you depend on after Reader?

    How quickly they forget... Google announced the retirement of iGoogle in July 2012, a popular service. It's scheduled to be shut down in November. Google Reader is just the most recent service to be put on the chopping block.

    The only Google services that you can trust to stay up at this point is Google search, Google Maps and Gmail. Each of these are making money, in some form or another, for the business. iGoogle, Google Reader, etc. do not... Like it or not, Google is now a corporation with a focus on profits and, in my opinion, the decision has been made by management to not give away anything for free unless there is some way to monetize it (i.e. Ad revenue, etc.). In other words, the MBAs have taken over...

  51. Re:Oh shit!!! by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What Microsoft gets,

    Yep, Microsoft products and their Kin will always play for sure!

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  52. I'm using it by geekoid · · Score: 1

    and I like it better then evernote.

    The cancelling thing is a worry.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  53. Re:Oh shit!!! by hairyfeet · · Score: 0

    And what IS the Kin? A product of Ballmer and the marketing droids who want to work at Cupertino so bad it hurts. if what the rumors coming out of Redmond is true then i have to apologize to Sinofsky because he got fired for going AGAINST the marketing droids, while Ballmer was spewing buzzwords like "synergy" and "vertical integration" Sinofsky gave him the bird and said "fuck that, the desktop isn't a smartphone" and got shut down and fired for his trouble.

    So until win 7 hits EOL in 2020 at least there is a product with an obvious support cycle although to be fair Win 8 has a 2022 EOL date that is published and so far MSFT has NEVER cut a product off before their EOL, always later than or on the date but never before.

    Now compare that to Google...what is the EOL for this product? For Gmail? Google+? Hell what is the metric they use to decide what stays and goes? Do YOU know what the metric is? because i sure as hell don't, at least with MSFT business products I know before I spend a dime or a minute of time what I'm looking at. Imagine if you wanted to go shopping and a grocery store covered all the shelf life dates so you have no clue if what you are buying has a day or a month on the shelf life...would you continue to shop there? So why would you give Google a free pass for doing the same thing?

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  54. Re:Oh shit!!! by interval1066 · · Score: 1

    Zune IS A GREAT MP3 PLAYER... wat?

    --
    Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
  55. Re:Oh shit!!! by geekoid · · Score: 1

    I don't really see humanity pushing the limits of 8^H 16^H^H 32^H^H64-bit computing for a long, long time.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  56. Re:Oh shit!!! by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Same damned thing happened with MSFT, they USED to put out relatively consistent products, now its just rehashing what Apple does even when it makes no damned sense, like putting an iPad style UI on a desktop which even Apple doesn't do.

    I personally call this "the curse of PPT math" as that is what seems to be the culprit, a company comes along, builds a base, people start becoming loyal to the product....then here come the beancounters. They start cranking out PPTs and Excel sheets and saying things like "Well if you look at the stock price its obvious we need to do" or "If you look at our competitor's quarterly earnings and stock price then its obvious we need to do"...fuck you you beancounting little shits, unless you are a financial services company on K street you should NOT be focused on pleasing fucking Wall Street, you should be focused on pleasing YOUR CUSTOMERS and making top notch products. do THAT and watch your company grow, don't? You become another risk averse money hungry dinosaur ripe for getting your throat cut by a new company that focuses on listening to the customer instead of Wall Street.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  57. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You paid for Windows XP and Office 2003...you didn't pay for Google Reader. Google services are free! Would you stop fucking complaining about a free service being discontinued. I'm sorry your mother stop breast feeding you when you finally left the basement at age 30 to find your job as CEO of who gives a fuck incorporated. You are not entitled to support from a free service!

  58. "don't be evil ?" Yeah, RIGHT. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google has all the morality of a rattlesnake.

    They are an outgrowth of an NSA project and they are busy tracking
    every single person in the US and many of the people in the rest of the
    world.

    The idea that Google should be trusted with anything is somewhere between
    perverse and idiotically naive.

  59. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's a good distinction, but people who champion free software (both as in 'freedom' and as in advertising supported, like Google and Facebook) tend to want it both ways. They keep saying, why pay good money for something you can get for free? Even the support on online forums is better yadda yadda yadda.

    Well here's an excellent reason why not. Google has a nasty tendency to withdraw its free products and services from the market, probably making more than a few of their customers wishing they could've shelled out a few bucks awhile back for something they could count on.

  60. Good by LF11 · · Score: 1

    Pulling Reader was an assinine move. It may not be a hugely popular service, but guess what, the nerds love Reader. Don't piss off the nerds, we remember.

    I, for one, am happy that the unhappiness and skepticism resulting from the Reader fiasco is being carried into new product launches.

    1. Re:Good by atomicxblue · · Score: 1

      This starts to make me wonder if I shouldn't be pulling more back from Google. With the demise of Reader and Listen, what does that mean for podcasts on Android? Does this mean products like Voice or Docs are on shaky ground? I have gotten so used to having a central repository for text that I can update from any computer, and it is awesome being able to check your voicemail without ending your current call.

      The problem lies in that there really aren't any other products up to their level, so we have to play the wait and see game with our data.. for now...

  61. Not just K(r)eep by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After Reader, Google has me questioning everything I do with them. I've even gone so far as to replace Google with about:blank on the home page of my browsers so they don't get the inflated traffic numbers.

  62. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone is certainly working very hard to steer the conversation off track whenever google is the topic.

    SHHH, you're not supposed to notice there's a Scroogling in progress!

    But you're right, there's an axis of evil companies including Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Oracle, and their henchmen (Burson Marsteller, Waggoner Edstrom etc) who've been using patents, trolls and reputation management sockpuppets to smear Google at every opportunity.

    In reality, Keep is a nice little app, with a very useful voice to text transcription feature. Nothing fancy, but it works fine for the type of transient notes it's clearly intended for.

  63. Realistic thinking by mattr · · Score: 1

    After I saw the video with audio note taking and lock screen widget (though I don't have a late enough android version darn it) it looked useful with the audio notetaking part. Never got into Evernote (though I have the app).
    However my first gut reaction to the announcement was, yeah like I'm going to trust google not to trash it once I've gotten used to it.
    Currently I use emailing myself, OnePunch (a memo app), and Circus Ponies Notebook (for Mac only). But I have found this to be insufficient like if I want to take a note immediately - yesterday someone told me a name to google and I forgot it, didn't have time to type it in, and stupidly didn't go for paper and pen that was probably in my pocket.
    If I can do instant audio annotation without launching an app that might be useful. Don't know if Evernote can do that but if anything this conversation will push me closer to getting Evernote. No matter how many times I think it, I just don't trust google to do a half-assed launch, get me used to it, and then pull the plug.
    The other option of course is just to use pen and paper. That works too, though I find I seldom go back to look at what I've written, it's like storing in a file on a separate hard disk. Whatever, the current situation is not optimal and when I am thinking about changing my notetaking application I think Google's behavior crystallizes my thinking.

  64. Reasons why I ditched Evernote by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Evernote seems like a great idea, but, as with many cloud services, synchronization is very broken.

    If you have it installed on several devices and some devices don't get a chance to synchronize with the central server, synchronizing will not correctly merge your changes. And, really, with the number of stupid features they've glommed on to it, I'm not surprised.

    First, there's no user supervised merge. It uses the "oh, were you working on something? Well fuck you, I'm going to rearrange everything you were looking at because I got an update from the server" model of synchronization.

    But the worst problem is that their algorithm assumes doesn't handle deletes correctly. In particular, if I'm using device A, delete some notes and don't synchronize, then use device B and synchronize, A's deletes are overridden.

    Thus, if you try to have a workflow and you have some notes that you're going to read over and delete when you're done, they may come back when you synchronize.

    At that point, you're now wasting more time and brain bytes on Evernote than you would have if you were synchronizing manually.

  65. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah google never does anything wrong, i mean their motto is something along the lines of "do no evil" so they can't possibly do bad things, therefore we must conclude that anyone saying anything bad about google is really the product of a huge conspiracy involving every other technology company that has henchmen and sockpuppets and such to post on sites like slashdot!

  66. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The only Google services that you can trust to stay up at this point is Google search, Google Maps and Gmail.

    Google Notebook is the predecessor of Keep, and was around since 2006. It was dropped in 2012 and all existing notebooks were imported into Google Docs.

    There are many products which have had far shorter lives, and which gave you no opportunity to retain your data.

    This latest round of anti-Google FUD is interesting in its intensity. I wonder where the money trail leads this time....

  67. Less fluff, more substance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google Keep is at least workable on the basics. At its foundation is a seamless integration, which none of the other tools possess. And at the heart of it, and although possibly laughable as meaningful any longer, the personal data is in the hands of Google, not a much smaller private concern whose size does not afford users the implied assurance nor political clout that data and privacy policy actually means anything.

    We all understand that google gives and google takes away. For free stuff especially, it's their perfect right. So please don't pour upon this introduction an argument that has little bearing on the matter. Instead, why not extol the fact that it's - how unique - a simple and to the point tool.

    For all I wanted, ever, was a simple quick tool that would store some stray information (before memory lost it completely) by the use of my mobile phone and with which I might deal with later in a better organized form. Google Keep does this job straight away.

    Sometimes less fluff and more substance is a good thing. Get used to it.

  68. Re:Oh shit!!! by TheSeatOfMyPants · · Score: 2

    Apple initially 'got it' with the Apple II family of computers, so old software from the 8-bit Apple II were playable on every computer in the A2 line, including the 16-bit Apple IIgs. Forgetting the importance of backwards-compatibility (or, perhaps, Wozniak taking the knowledge with him when he left) very nearly destroyed the company.

    --
    Now mostly at Usenet:comp.misc & SoylentNews.org (it's made of people!)
  69. Re:Oh shit!!! by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

    And I knew people that switched to windows precisely because Apple burned them on backwards compatibility. back in the day you did NOT do DTP or graphics on anything but a Mac and I had some friends that had invested heavily in Mac software. when Apple left them high and dry? Boy were they pissed off.

    Now sadly we are seeing the same shit with MSFT, windows 8 bombs so what is the word on Windows Blue? "More touch integration!" yeah because every PC has a touchscreen now...facepalm. I swear if they don't fire that fucking sweaty chimp in 5 years MSFT is gonna be RIM, a company that USED to be huge but now only has legacy customers and even they are looking at exit strategies.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  70. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

    I remember Synistar!

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  71. Re:Oh shit!!! by tehcyder · · Score: 1
    And Google, a multi billion dollar listed company, don't spend anything at all on PR, right?

    Grow up, fanboy.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  72. Re:Evernote competition? No. by bonehead · · Score: 1

    I know all the google reader users are upset about its demise, but the fact is there just weren't very many of you at all. Sure, the ones that were out there are being very vocal right now, but that doesn't imply large numbers.

    I tried, several times, to use google reader for exactly the purpose you describe. Each time I found that there are other tools, both on the PC and Android, that do the same in a better, less clumsy way.

  73. Re:Oh shit!!! by hrvatska · · Score: 1

    My thought when I saw this is that Keep's revenue model will be to encourage more people to store more data on Google Drive, resulting in more people going over the limit where Drive is free. Google isn't pushing a note keeping service, it's selling storage. Google may also be looking at the data it can extract from a service that it can then sell to advertisers and marketing companies. If Keep sells enough storage and produces sufficient revenue from the quality and quantity of data it generates it will stick around, if not it's a goner.

  74. Re:Oh shill!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Can you link to any Google-sponsored smears against these other companies?

  75. Re:Evernote competition? No. by tehcyder · · Score: 0

    Just don't try and attach video clips or pictures to your Evernotes or you'll run out of your 60MB/month and have to pay for premium service.

    Gosh, the evil fucking bastards. I mean, obviously I should be able to use Evernote as free unlimited online storage. If I want to upload HD videos 24/7 as backup, they have a moral obligation to give this to me for free.

    And there are no photo/video sharing sites available anywhere on the internet, so Evernote are basically forcing me to upgrade to their ludicrously overpriced premium service (which I have just checked is an eye-watering GBP4 a month).

    Meanwhile, in the real world 60MB/month is a lot of actual, you know, text notes.

    --
    To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
  76. Re:Oh shit!!! by jafiwam · · Score: 2

    You paid for Windows XP and Office 2003...you didn't pay for Google Reader. Google services are free! Would you stop fucking complaining about a free service being discontinued. I'm sorry your mother stop breast feeding you when you finally left the basement at age 30 to find your job as CEO of who gives a fuck incorporated. You are not entitled to support from a free service!

    Google Reader, iGoogle (which I personally use and have a replacement for when tbe time comes*), and numerous other Google products that have been cancelled and forgotten, and any products they have now (Google Docs got absorbed into Google Drive, which won't last, it's shittier and nobody is going to pay them more than $5 a month for personal account) and nobody wants file storage that will just evaporate when they pull the plug....

    In all that, the PRODUCT is not what Google offers. The PRODUCT is the EYEBALLS those things attract to the ADS that Google sells in them.

    The CUSTOMER is the ad-purchasing company.

    I think Google's fundamental problem is they attract savvy users, technical users, educated and intelligent ones... the same ones that get annoyed by ads, have vendettas against ads, or simply blocked them years ago and forgot they exist.

    Google needs to DUMB DOWN their products to more like crap like imageshack and flickr. Pulling market share from other ad-display companies which is really what they are, hell, even Fark is nagging users about using ad blockers now, the guy that runs it is already wealthy and is now getting greedy.

    Only then will these product survive.

    YouTube seems to be a perfect storm of retard / tech guy / and content that people will tolerate ads for. They can do what they do, but tried so many stupid things (as in, too high tech that they can't count on ad returns from the eyeballs that come) and now have to downsize.

    Google does well, but they are setting themselves up to get knocked off the top by someone who figures out a new way to do search, and a more human-like algorithm to do search results.(No, you Apple retards, it's not going to be something I can talk to. I use computers because I find talking inefficient and annoying. Adding a chick's voice to some app isn't going to cut it.)

    *Netvibes, free version lets you make a portal for yourself.

  77. Re:Oh shit!!! by Crosshair84 · · Score: 1

    Reminds me about a saying regarding engine design. You can design an engine for horsepower or torque. If you design an engine for torque, horsepower will take care of itself. Likewise here, if your business focuses on the customers, the stock price will ultimately take care of itself.

  78. Re:Oh shit!!! by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

    Sadly Crosshair it won't, if you looked at Dell's actual performance they had been doing BETTER than before the downturn for the past 2 years but because they are not a hip trendy company that attracts speculators their stock stayed in the dumps. I'm sure I gave you that video on what is wrong with the stock market, so much money being poured into the system has distorted the market so badly actual performance means nothing anymore, its all about catching the speculators eye with short term jumps.

    I mean does anybody REALLY think Apple stock is worth its current price? that when the main products have become saturated and the only thing they have in the pipe is a fricking "iWatch" that they are gonna have another iPad on their hands? of course not but all those speculators that go "Wow Apple devices are expensive so they MUST be good" cause lots of short surges in the stock which cause speculators to herd like lemmings. You just have too much money chasing too little real value so thing gets cock eyed.

    But dell is a perfect example of what to do, they ignored the street and had already gotten back up to pre downturn levels. Sales up, costs down, profits up, who in the hell cares what the street thinks if all of that is true about your company? What MSFT SHOULD be doing is taking a page from IBM and offering services and support in addition to the software. Companies don't want to give up XP? Fine if enough companies pay support contracts we'll keep supporting it...BAM! Big influx of money as companies with thousands of XP units would rather pay a support contract than deal with the mess of changing out that many units. People like Win 7 over 8? Fine and dandy, sell them channels for their WMC that let their PC become the center of entertainment by making deals with the big producers..BAM! Another big influx of cash.

    Frankly it would not be hard AT ALL to have MSFT making good consistent money right now but because Ballmer is a marketing droid he ONLY cares about what the street thinks while ignoring the fact the speculators will NEVER think of MSFT as a trendy brand, its just not gonna happen. he thinks he can slap a coat of paint and turn Pinto into Porsche and that shit just ain't happening, all he is doing is bleeding customers to the competition.

    --
    ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  79. Re:Oh shit!!! by atomicxblue · · Score: 1

    More than that, they already tried something exactly like this with Notebook, and it was removed.

  80. Part of Google's user count problem is... by atomicxblue · · Score: 1

    Has anyone at Google stopped to think that sometimes, you can't rely solely on word of mouth about your product? It seems every so often, I stumble upon something Google put out a year prior and ask myself, "When did they do this?"

  81. Re:Oh shit!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ah, so Microsoft is the holy grail of keeping services available? I have one three word word for you: PlaysForSure. You can't trust services to be available forever, period.

  82. Re:Oh shit!!! by IHateEverybody · · Score: 1

    But I didn't use iGoogle, so I didn't speak up....

    That was a bit overly dramatic but that's the bottom line, when we're happy with a product, we'll continue to use it and ignore the warning signs about its parent company. It's probably not a good idea but it's the nature of the beast.

    --
    Does this .sig make my butt look big?
  83. Re:Oh shit!!! by IHateEverybody · · Score: 1

    It's hardly FUD when people who've used Google products for years, rightly or wrongly, complain when Google discontinues them. And it's also not FUD when these same people wonder how long the latest Google product lasts.

    --
    Does this .sig make my butt look big?
  84. Re:Oh shit!!! by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Google services are free!

    And you get what you pay for, and similarly, you shouldn't trust them or rely on them.
    The problem with Google's free services is that they make it difficult for for-pay products to compete with them.
    The only way to compete is for people to realize the Google brand is tarnished and untrustworthy. IE, that the free choice might not be the wisest choice for them.

  85. Re:Well, you know the saying. by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    Get it right if you want your payout, Scroogle apologist.

    You have zero credibility, AC.