I'd also add that it raises a serious point: if we cannot depend on products to exist past the team that creates them, are we really producing products at all? Or merely engineering time leased at the rate you consume advertising?
Wow, that is longer than I expected. Here it is in one paragraph:
Google Answers, Google Deskbar, Writely, Google Click-to-Call, Related Links, Public Service Search, Google Video Marketplace, Google Browser Sync (Firefox), Google Lively, Hello, SearchMash, Send to Phone, Audio Ads, Catalogs, Dodgeball, Google Ride Finder, Shared Stuff, Google Page Creator, Marratech e-Meeting, GOOG-411, Google Labs, Google Buzz, Google Dictionary, Google PowerMeter, Real Estate, Google Directory, Squared, Google Sets, Google Pack, Google Fast Flip, Desktop, Google Image Labeler, Aardvark, Directory, Gears, Google Notebook, Google Apps standard edition, Google Code Search, Google Health, Google Website Optimizer, TV Ads, Google Friend Connect, Google Insights for Search, Knol, Google Wave, Picnik, Jaiku, Nexus Q, Slide.com, Google Mini, Picasa Web Albums Uploader, Google Cloud Connect (Microsoft Office plugin), Google Building Maker, Google Calendar Sync, Meebo, Google Reader, Google Latitude, Google Talk, SMS service, iGoogle, GIS tools for Google Maps, Google Schemer, Google Notifier, YouTube My Speed, Orkut, QuickOffice, "discussion search", Google Moderator, Wildfire by Google, BebaPay, Google Helpouts, Google Code, Picasa, Google Compare.
Agreed. I've yet to find anything remotely as fast as the Picasa app (even running under Wine) for organizing photos. The gap is somewhat filled by the rise of SSDs (even slow apps are faster when disk speed increases) - but I would've loved for them to open source the thing rather than kill it off.
Of course, real desktop apps goes against the need for all content to be in the Google cloud where it can be mined by Gooogle, so I'm not surprised. I guess Total Information Awareness makes for great ad sells.
I'd also add that it raises a serious point: if we cannot depend on products to exist past the team that creates them, are we really producing products at all? Or merely engineering time leased at the rate you consume advertising?