A year ago I could not imagine giving up Google Reader, nevertheless, on July 1, I am ready to say goodbye to my beloved Google Reader. How can I let go of Google Reader so easily, the technology that taught me to love RSS feeds and my content curation tool of choice?
Revenue matters. Google's spring cleaning efforts are critical to it's overall success, upon which hundreds of thousands of shareholders, employees and customers rely. Google Reader does not fit into Google's current echo-system with Google+ at it's core.
There were many warning signs. Google's decision to sunset Google Reader came as no surprise. In October 2011, Reader discontinued social sharing. Later Reader was moved from it's prime location on Google's tool bar to a spot on the "More" dropdown menu. The recent launch of Google Currents was further proof that Google was considering content curation platforms other than Google Reader.
In light of the Reader news, I am cannot help but wonder about the future of Google Voice. On the same day that Google Reader was discontinued, Google Voice for Blackberry was also discontinued, and Google Voice is showing Google Reader-like symptoms. Since Google Voice's 1997 launch, not much has changed. Google Voice does not support MMS (the ability to send photos) or video conferencing. It remains the lone product without Google+ integration, while other ways to text, chat, make phone calls and video conference including Google Chat, Google Talk and Google+ Hangouts are Google+-centric. Frankly, it crashes. A lot. Even on Google's own Android devices.
The landing page of Google Voice's product forum reads "use at your own discretion" in highlighted text. It seems inevitable that a unified chat, voice and video solution is around the corner, and Google Voice is not the heir apparent.
We had a great run, Google Voice, but it looks like your time has come.
We had a great run, Google Voice, but it looks like your time has come.
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