Today Google announced what it is calling “[a] second spring of cleaning,” shuttering another set of old applications that it views as no longer necessary.
Included in the list is the venerable Google Reader product. In Google’s estimation, “the product has a loyal following, [but] over the years [its] usage has declined.” The move is sure to shake those who remain dependent on the product for daily news gathering.
Other closures include Google Cloud Connect, and the Google Voice App for BlackBerry, a blow to that mobile platform. Specifically, Google Voice’s app for BlackBerry was announced in 2009, a very different time in the mobile world. Google points BlackBerry owners to its HTML5 implementation, which is compatible with BlackBerry 6 and beyond.
Google has also announced that it is dropping the Mac and PC versions of Snapseed, the photo editing software that it bought last September.
According to the company’s short blog post on the round of closures, Google has closed some “70 features or services” since it began the process. Google, a company famed for working on myriad fronts at once, now appears content to pare.
The decision to end Google Reader is not surprising. Google Reader broke in February, with widespread bugs and issues cropping up for many users. It appears to have fallen into a sort of disarray in its old age. And, as you surely recall, Google has announced such product cessations in prior blocs. One such “cleaning” included the death of Google Sync, along with several Calendar features.
Response to today’s news hasn’t been positive, with initial tweets opining views indicating anguish over the end of Reader. I would posit that even so, the chance of Google changing its mind is all but nil.
Top Image Credit: Håkan Dahlström
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