Social Graph API, a great way to find public profiles and connections between people, will no longer be available. The service was used by Google to find your social connections and show social search results. Unfortunately, "the API isn't experiencing the kind of adoption we'd like, and is being deprecated as of today. It will be fully retired on April 20, 2012."
Google will also discontinue Urchin (the installable version of Google Analytics), Google Message Continuity (an enterprise service that allowed Microsoft Exchange customers to back up emails to Google's servers), Needlebase (a data management platform acquired from ITA Software) and Sky Map (an Android app developed "to show off the amazing capabilities of the sensors in the first-generation Android phones and offer a window into the sky"). Sky Map was open sourced and will be developed by Carnegie Mellon University students.
Google promises to take "a hard look at products that replicate other features, haven't achieved the promise we had hoped for or can't be properly integrated into the overall Google experience," so I'm sure we'll see other discontinued projects. From Orkut to Google Talk (the Windows software), from Patent Search to Google Bookmarks and Translator Toolkit, from iGoogle to Picasa, there are many projects that might be discontinued. Moving from standalone applications to platforms, Google gets rid of many tools that solved only one problem and tries to convince users to join all-encompassing services like Google+ or Google Apps.
I always wondered why they did not make the premium features free. It was very unlike Google.
ReplyDeleteI guess Google+ Creative Kit is the new Picnik. And I guess Flickr was told of this decision earlier as they announced recently that they were working on a Picnik replacement.
This is just a lift and shift users from a successful (non-Google originated) product into a flagging (Google originated one) one. SImples, move on.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of not surprising since Picnik was Flash based and Google seems to working hard to replace Flash with HTML5.
ReplyDeleteRetiring Google Skymap? How much effort does it honestly take to keep simple standalone apps like this? Recompile for latest Android platform once a year and...done. Skymap and Google Body could have been awesome apps for selling either the Android or web_as_a_platform. Just awesome marketing potential wasted. Oh that's right, Google != Apple's marketing whit. Dumb dumb dumb.
ReplyDeleteSteve Jobs told Google CEO to eliminate most projects and focus on just a few (source: Steve Jobs book).
DeletePhoto editing is often done for productivity reasons rather than social sharing ones. I would have expected Picnik to have been a better fit with Google Docs rather than Plus. Getting a little worried by Google's bonfire attitude; reminds me of Yahoo's attitude to their online services over the past decade.
ReplyDeleteI think the attitude is less bonfire and more the creation of a multicellular organism from a unicellular colony. We'll have to see how much more functional that complex organism over its simpler predecessor.
Deletei used this service so many times it's sad to hear
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they will not discontinue Patent Search
ReplyDeleteI hope Picasa will live forever. The only service I pay for...
ReplyDeleteI still wish for an updated Google Talk for the desktop every day.
ReplyDeleteOr at the very least, they need to give Chrome more desktop-grade extensibility so that such desktop applications can be accurately reproduced via Chrome+HTML/CSS/JS. None of the web-based Google applications which have replaced desktop-native equivalents have ever yet matched their functionality, responsiveness, resource efficiency, and desktop-paradigm friendliness.
This is so unfair how could you close Picnik. One of the best photo editing tool we use often. I don't know what to say but doing this would broke many hearts.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the features you enjoy will be incorporated into Google+. Google has a big stake in keeping photographers et al. happy.
DeleteBeing a k-12 school that uses Apps, this is very disappointing... Our students and teachers use Picnik all the time, and with no ability to use G+ this is a MAJOR loss. They really need to roll this product into the Docs applications...
ReplyDelete-Dan
As a paying member of Picnik I am extremely displeased to see this disappear. Additionally, the message is very cryptic. Come on Google, say what you mean and mean what you say.
ReplyDeleteI tried the Google+ so-called Picnik replacement. It's very disappointing compared to the real Picnik. Unless I'm missing something, there seems to be fewer options... such as no way to frame pictures, take out red eye, and other effects. Sorry to see Picnik go. I'll supposedly get a refund for my premium service but so far, Google+ isn't to par.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone else get about 20 emails from Picnik announcing this?
ReplyDeleteI'm just praying to GOD that it's an April fools prank or something... My job pretty much relies on Picnik, i have no idea how to use the other photo editors!
ReplyDeletewhat the hell? well, i've been having google+ shoved down my throat...if they're killing picnik, i hope that they plan on incorporating something better into this new google shit...as in, i'd like to see the "plus" part. i loved picnik! what is the point of shutting all that down and not providing something better? google used to be my favorite...
ReplyDeleteI sure hope they will start selling Picnik software in the stores. I love Picnik!!! This sucks!
ReplyDeleteOh! I hope Google would add all those features in very effective way at free of cost later. But I am feeling a little bit of sad for closing all the above features.
ReplyDeletepicnik software would be the answer...please, my job also relies 99.99999999% on picnik...really??
ReplyDelete