After recently ranting about Microsoft, again I'm disturbed by a high tech company...
First, I should admit I'm a heavy user of the soon-to-be-abandoned Google Reader:
And I was starting to warm up to Google in other ways: I'm still using my original Chromebook from several years ago and was probably going to buy another one. I switched from Apple iPhone to a Samsung Note 2 running Google Android, and liked the experience. I also was impressed to see the Google self-driving cars, a half-dozen times in the last three months.
On the other hand, Google Search, at least when it comes to looking for information about specific works of classical music got much worse over the last decade, as the results were overrun with links to buying said music, rather than learning about it. Unfortunately, Google removed the option to easily remove shopping sites from the list. Oh well.
And like many, I've found twitter and Facebook far more useful than Google+.
But I'm particularly surprised at my visceral reaction to the announcement of retiring Google Reader. As I drove past the Google Quad on my way to work this morning, I turned and booed the company sign.
I survived the acqusition of lala by Apple, although neither rdio nor Spotify have since matched that user experience.
Presumably, I'll eventually find an alternative way to read and collect RSS feeds by July. But Google burned any good will I was feeling for the company.
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