Is anyone else concerned this will be yet another Google product that goes by the wayside in a few years? This has essentially become my biggest fear now with any new product they announce/release.
I understand that it's inconvenient when services shut down but I see 3 options.
1) Wait until it seems there's enough comittment from Google before using it.
2) Start using it right away knowing that it might not be around forever.
3) Don't use it because you don't trust Google to maintain it.
Given these 3 options, does Google launching a service really have that much impact on consumer's lives? I'm a huge Gmail user and have been for over a decade. If they shut it down it will suck but I'll find another way to email people.
I get the philosophical arguments but curious why some people have the level of concern or angst when Google announces a product.
(for the sake of this comment let's forget about competition and monopolies)
It's pretty much a certainty with this project, in my opinion. Until everybody somehow has gigabit lines to their home and to their phones, I don't see this becoming popular. Like most Google projects, their actual success period is most likely 10+ years away, and the project will be axed long before then.
5G deployments have already started rolling out. 5G has average latency in the range of 1-2ms. Google controls a huge swath of the backbone after that. They can realistically achieve < 5ms latency on 5G devices in the next 1-2 years.
IMO, a more valid argument against its success would be that any consumer who is in a position to ensure they have fast enough internet for this service, is also in a position to buy a gaming console. But the counterargument to that is that there is no reason someone cannot have a gaming console and also use Stadia.
I'm normally very skeptical of Google's motivations, respectful of their cloud technology, and doubtful about many of their products. But I think this one will be a success, and shortly followed by competing products from Amazon and Microsoft.
Seeing as I live just on the outskirts of a capital city (Cardiff), and I can't even get 3G signal inside my house, and no more than 80/20 broadband; I'll remain skeptical about the possibility of success for this outside of very specific cities. There's also a lot to be said for reliability and the requirement to always have a fast connection: one of the benefits to many videogames is the fact that they are not online.
Isn't 5G on a wavelength that has poorer penetration than 4G? It might work in the USA but signal is a constant issue in stone housing here in the UK (though it may be better where you are based). I had to get a femtocell from EE in order to get signal in my house :\
I doubt this is going anywhere. As a PC gamer I have no need for this, don't want to deal with lag, and don't trust Google to operate the platform in a consumer friendly way.
Look at how angry people are at epic right now. Taking a brand that already has a bad rap and trying to start a new market (that has already failed several times over) is not a great angle, especially with an audience as skeptical and anal retentive as gamers.
Additionally, who is the audience for this? Casual gamers use consoles, and those more invested use PCs. This is too out of the box for the former and completely useless to the latter. I could also see Google trying to get exclusives which would be a PR disaster.
Sure, it's a novel idea and looks like a decent execution, but its by no means a new one. Onlive did this 10 years ago and couldn't get market share. PSnow is available right now and its completely unusable even with a great connection because they dont have enough servers. The game selection is also terrible considering they should be able to load up any game in their ecosystem. I cant play MGS4, the PS4 remaster of last of us, nor horizon as they want me to buy a console to play it. So what's the point?
1) Wait until it seems there's enough comittment from Google before using it. 2) Start using it right away knowing that it might not be around forever. 3) Don't use it because you don't trust Google to maintain it.
Given these 3 options, does Google launching a service really have that much impact on consumer's lives? I'm a huge Gmail user and have been for over a decade. If they shut it down it will suck but I'll find another way to email people.
I get the philosophical arguments but curious why some people have the level of concern or angst when Google announces a product.
(for the sake of this comment let's forget about competition and monopolies)