
How Google should have acquired EtherPad - jeff18
http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/12/How-Google-should-have-acquired-EtherPad
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cmelbye
Uh, I just went onto <http://etherpad.com/> and I was able to create a new
pad. Maybe Google is listening to the complaints?

~~~
bradgessler
Oh awesome! This must be recent, I was at Etherpad a few hours ago and that
button was disabled. I hope Google heard us.

~~~
silentOpen
The ease with which you can replace "Google" with "God" in that sentence is
disconcerting.

~~~
pavs
Since one of them doesn't really exist, its really easy to replace it.

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pmjordan
I love how everyone seems to have advice for Google with this recent
acquisition. I say wait and see how this plays out before grabbing the
pitchforks.

Calling it un-google-like also strikes me as odd; after all, didn't the
Omnisio acquisition take a similar path? OK, the site is still up to this day,
but it's not actively maintained and you can't add new videos.

~~~
staunch
Part of it has already played out though. The part where people who loved the
product can suddenly no longer use it. That action can be fairly judged. What
happens next is still in question, obviously.

I'm pretty sure Omnisio had barely any users, so that probably explains why no
one was that upset about it. It's also a different kind of product. People
would be more upset if they couldn't use Microsoft Word for their work, than
they would be if they couldn't watch a funny video on YouTube.

~~~
jackowayed
_people who loved the product can suddenly no longer use it_

That's not 100% accurate. I think most people who really loved it, myself
included, signed up for etherpad pro. You can make fully private pads, and
it's free as long as you don't want private pads w/ more than 3 users on it. I
can still make as many pads as I please. Obviously, that won't be true when
they shut etherpad down.

I'm still not happy that they're killing it.

I'm hoping that they think if the Appjet guys help on wave for the next few
months, wave will be a much better replacement by then. I guess we'll see.

~~~
jeff18
So, basically, this issue doesn't affect you at all. No wonder you are
nonchalant -- you still have full access to it for a few months and are able
to gradually migrate onto a new product at your own leisure!

Try to put yourself in the shoes of everyone else who love it as much as you,
but suddenly and without warning are no longer able to use it.

If Google had given me even one day of warning, I would have bought a premium
account as well.

~~~
pohl
It also wouldn't hurt to put yourselves in the shoes of the etherpad owners
who had to sell out. Maybe they wouldn't have if the fans had ponied up for
the pro account.

~~~
dagw
I guess that is a general problem with the whole 'freemium' approach. I use a
number of such products and services which I greatly enjoy, but see no reason
to pay for because their free offering is more than enough for my limited
needs.

Had they said pay us a few bucks or go without then perhaps I'd pay, but when
they say pay us a bunch for a service you don't need just so that the service
you do need remains free for everyone, it becomes a lot harder to whip out
that credit card.

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adubs
Well, I just read this post and went off to create iMotable :) Took me about
30 min.

<http://socialdecks.com/iMotable/>

