It was bound to happen. It looks like under new CEO Larry Page’s reign, it will be all about money. For a traditionally open and free spirited company, this a 180 degree turn around. There’s no denying now that the free ride from Google is over.
The announcement of new higher pricing for the Google App Engine has cause many developers of useful utilities to pull their apps. Many just shut down, others are looking into other hosting options. No doubt, now that Google has given developers a reason not to trust them, many will think twice before using other the company’s free services.
Today, Google announced it’s putting the axe to quite a few services to concentrate more on monetization and focus on a few main projects. Of course, the old “we’re gonna cannibalize the old stuff, and put it into our new stuff” is the mantra of this round of axe swinging. It’s smart and profitable, but this is not what made Google great. No, what made Google so great was the development of services that were just cool and good for the Internet and consumers. Now, it seems this will be a new Google, concerned about the bottom line and share holders.
I know I will miss the old Google. “Don’t be evil” will probably go by the wayside and corporate greed will kick in. It’s sad really, but I’m speculating here. Google will still continue to have great services, but I will be watching to see if they begin behaving badly. If they happen to start acting like another Oracle, Microsoft, or any number of evil companies, I will be looking for a new email host. Or, perhaps, I’ll just use my VPS mail server on one of my many domains.
Maybe more later…
