So G+ consumer is shutting down, yet our Gmail accounts will remain.
Obviously, no matter how hard one tries, they'll sooner or later be forced in one way or another to support massive companies like Google. I simply don't see any way around it.
This got me thinking about shutting down G+ consumer version as a cost vs benefits issue.
G+ shuts down vs Google still retaining a majority of emails where they can basically get whatever usage they need from the accounts themselves, without having to continue putting money into the consumer site.
Am I wrong? Am I simplifying this, or something?
Let me know your thoughts.
Obviously, no matter how hard one tries, they'll sooner or later be forced in one way or another to support massive companies like Google. I simply don't see any way around it.
This got me thinking about shutting down G+ consumer version as a cost vs benefits issue.
G+ shuts down vs Google still retaining a majority of emails where they can basically get whatever usage they need from the accounts themselves, without having to continue putting money into the consumer site.
Am I wrong? Am I simplifying this, or something?
Let me know your thoughts.
A great number of people I know use Gmail rather heavily without ever setting an electronic toe into G+, so I suspect this to be a flawed argument. Between that service and Google Docs, also a service that gets heavy use by non-plussers, there's plenty of reason to have a Google account without G+ factoring one way or another.
ReplyDeleteThe idea floated that privacy laws in the EU, particularly, and perhaps future laws, too, threatened Google's ability to make money on G+ makes more sense, but I admit to not being expert enough to say whether I can credit it.
Familiar Purrson For myself, I didn't have an G+ account until I was forced onto the site with the Yt debacle. Does this matter? I'm not trying to push any view here, just trying to understand.
ReplyDeleteGoogle has far more products to offer than just G+ (Photos, maps, Chrome, Drive, YouTube, Keep, to name but a tiny proportion of them).
ReplyDeleteThe cost of maintaining G+ must be massive, especially when you include the cost of humans to review and adjudicate on abuse reports vs the relatively low number of users.
The only other Google product I can think of where such resources are necessary is YouTube, and that has a direct income stream from advertising to fund it.
Gmail is just one of those many products, but it's the "obvious" one because your Gmail address is the identifier for your entire Google account.
What if Gmail has a breach or two - I expect it too will be shut down. I've already backed up all my GMail to an offline e-mail app.
ReplyDeleteDanie van der Merwe I think the thing that allowed the potential privacy breach in G+ was the granularity of the many and varied different privacy levels.
ReplyDeleteThe vulnerability that was identified was to be able to access data that had been provided by the user but only to certain categories of people, but via the API there was a point where you could get access to that data even if you weren't in those categories. That's a very different thing from a security breach where your data is destroyed, or somebody else gains control of your account.
The more complex the access rights, the more chance there is of a bug that compromises access to data that was only supposed to be visible to a subset of users. That issue doesn't exist with Gmail.
Ultimately, G+'s USP, Circles, was probably its downfall. It's notable that Circles and Collections will be removed from the GSuite offering.
A couple of weeks ago someone posted a link to a discussion on Google's development methodology. Apparently even projects that have no feature development are continually being developed, because Google internally requires that every single project uses exactly the same same release of software libraries, so for even the most trivial library change, every project that Google owns must undergo software testing. Therefore every live Google project is a strain on resources, even without strategic or security reviews or legal challenges or changes to privacy laws or court cases that impose geofenced differences.
ReplyDeleteGmail is completely separate to G+. Gmail won't be shut down as it's integral to their G Suite offering and makes them money.
ReplyDeleteNobody in this thread has even suggested that Gmail is closing down Michael Warburton
ReplyDeleteJulie Wills I'd suggest rereading it then.
ReplyDeleteJulie Wills I had just asked about whether it would also be a possibility if it suffered similar breaches like G+ had.
ReplyDeleteDanie van der Merwe Yes, but you didn't suggest that Gmail is closing down with G+
ReplyDeleteJulie Wills no not at all - separate as everyone has confirmed.
ReplyDeleteThe breaches are not the problem, though it's convenient for Google to pretend it's so. It's clear to me, at least, that the reason Google is shutting down G+ is, simply, that it couldn't "win": it started G+ as a rival to F******k, and, while G+ has its loyal following, it certainly couldn't compete. So Google cuts its losses -- sort of at our expense, which is a shame. But there it is.
ReplyDeleteNB; I don't see how this thread contributes to the goal of moving people and communities off Google+.
ReplyDeleteWe have 43 days and lots to do. We can relitigate this after April 2.
Edward Morbius Feel free to remove.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the clarification everyone!
ReplyDelete