

Scorched Earth - if Google can't own the web then it must destroy it - chmars
http://notes.kateva.org/2013/05/scorched-earth-if-google-can-own-web.html

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haberdasher
This article is vapid.

"It's almost as if Google wants to end the document-centric open web as we
have known it."

Actually, if this happened, Google's $40B+ in revenue would approach zero.

On Reader: Every week there's a new Reader replacement that pops up. I think
in a year or two, Google Reader being shutdown will be seen as a positive
thing for RSS.

"Apple will switch its default search engine to Bing....The web is a forest,
and Google is burning it."

Maybe Apple will do this. It's possible though very unlikely considering
Google's ability to monetize search and Microsoft investors' disappointment at
losses in the Live division, but that's still not a move that immediately
destroys Google.

Again, this article is completely vapid.

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chmars
I haven't found a single Google Reader replacement so far.

Sure, there are many alternatives for a subset of Google Reader's feature set
but there is not a single full alternative so far. Google Reader is - soon was
– not only a web GUI to subscribe to and read RSS feeds, it was also a search
engine, an API for apps and until recently a social network.

~~~
UberMouse
I'm not really familiar with the parts of Google Reader that weren't just
viewing RSS feeds, but have you looked at NewsBlur? I believe it has an API
for apps and it has some sort of social network.

~~~
chmars
I have a paid NewsBlur subscription but rarely use it. There is an iOS app but
it isn't comparable with Reeder and offline support in particular is missing.
An API exist in theory but isn't used by other apps and services. The web GUI
of Newsblur itself isn't performant and user-friendly IMHO, it reminds me of
an old-style Windows GUI …

I'm going with Feedbin (<https://feedbin.me/>) and the iPhone version of
Reeder (<http://reederapp.com/iphone/>) for the moment. Feedbin's web GUI is
very simple but there's hope for progress. And the Reeder developer announced
that he plans to add Feedbin support to the iPad and OS X versions of Reeder
(<http://reederapp.com/reader/>). As a backend for syncing feeds with Reeder
on the iPhone, Feedbin has been working well for me so far.

(BTW, Feedbin has no official trial but you can use it for three days without
getting charged on your credit card.)

~~~
UberMouse
Have you tried the dev.newsblur.com interface? I'm really not fond of the
normal interface but I like the dev one.

~~~
chmars
Yeah, almost exclusively … it's not much better though since it's mostly a new
skin while the philosophy behind the web GUI remains the same.

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ChuckMcM
The flaw in this reasoning is that just because Google kills a product it
doesn't kill the protocol underneath it. Killing off Blogger won't kill
Tumblr, or Wordpress for that matter. It will make it possible to create value
in that space again though since Google will have left.

Google cannot "kill" RSS, they can only kill Reader, and if people are so
dependent on Reader then someone will make a Reader replacement that makes
them enough money to keep it running. If nobody can do that, then the business
model for Reader (and RSS for that matter) is in doubt.

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icebraining
How does Google destroy the web by not supporting open protocols, any more
than any other company does?

Sure, Google may be dropping XMPP support. Guess what: before Google, no major
messaging system supported XMPP or federation! That didn't prevent the open
web for existing.

All they're doing is reverting to the state before they created those
services, back when they only had Search. It's disappointing, yes (though not
surprising), but it's no more destroying the open web than not supporting it
in the first place would be, like most companies did.

Just stop using their services if there are open alternatives, like I did with
mail and RSS way before the death of Reader had been announced, and stop
portraying Google as some Internet god. It's just a company, people.

~~~
nextw33k
"before Google, no major messaging system supported XMPP or federation!"

I think what we are seeing is the end of a poster child. Google has gone from
being an engineers dream job to a self serving corporate entity.

XMPP could have been made to do what Hangouts is doing, but instead of
improving the web as a whole they are just focused on their own platform and
profit line. Which is something they are entitled to do, it just sad.

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smoyer
Well ... that implies a long-term strategy with the actor assuming it's a
zero-sum game. The other possibility is that Google is simply following a
completely economic strategy and that each of the decisions described would
end up maximizing their return.

I think the real question is "why did we accept so many Beta services, knowing
that there was no guarantee they'd be brought to market". If we'd only let
them be a search company, would this even be a problem?

~~~
Retric
We rarely act in our own collective best interest. Rather individuals for a
variety of reasons start using Beta services. Many of them end up burned as it
shuts down, but far more move on to the next new thing.

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taylodl
Yet if Microsoft were in the same position doing the same things the chanting
horde would be calling for their heads. Meanwhile Google can do no wrong.
Google is in a position where they can greatly affect the usage and adoption
of open standards. And increasingly they're subverting open standards. Is that
evil? Draw your own conclusions but it was considered evil when Microsoft did
it.

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kailuowang
Very interesting theory. Maybe that's why Microsoft is doing the same to
desktop OS? Apple must act quickly to destroy the smartphones.

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azakai
> Apple will switch its default search engine to Bing

Speculation, or has there been some indication of this?

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ChuckMcM
Given Apple's response to Maps, doesn't it seem as likely that they are
building their own replacement?

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Oletros
I think that making a search engine is orders of magnitude complex than making
a new maps backend.

~~~
ChuckMcM
Can you say a bit about _why_ you think that? Are we talking decimal orders of
magnitude? binary?

