Slashdot Mirror
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."
Maybe an extra l there?
My first thought was "how can I trust them with this when they just killed reader?"
It's nice to see an application (yeah, I typed out the whole word!) slammed for being too simplistic.
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.
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.
"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...
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.
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
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.
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
What Microsoft gets,
Yep, Microsoft products and their Kin will always play for sure!
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
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
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.
Facebook admits hiring PR firm to smear Google
http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/12/facebook-admits-hiring-pr-firm-to-smear-google/
Apple's war against Google
http://www.informationweek.com/development/mobility/apples-war-against-google-time-for-new-t/240002054
Microsoft Wage War on Google
http://www.idfmarketing.com/blog/microsoft-wage-war-on-google/
Microsoft spending 7 figures to revive Gmail smear campaign
http://9to5google.com/2013/02/07/microsoft-spending-7-figures-to-revive-gmail-smear-campaign/