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> Anil Sabharwal, Google Photos’ then-head, said in a blog post when the service launched in 2015. “And when we say a lifetime of memories, we really mean it.” That sure did change and within the classic 5-year business plan model as well. >Most of Google’s product strategy has been bait & switch, and I say that with all due to respect to the engineers. It’s the leaders who make these decisions Yes, though how many where planned and how many organicly just ended up that way from a business perspective. We are all used to the marketing budget phase of companies, initially offering great services and deals, just to get a foothold and then after that period, change bit by bit with the niceties eroded away. Sad to say that many company does this, just marketing wise it feels less obvious as they are initially in effect using the customer base as the marketing with word of mouth and as people love free, that works out. So down the line many will feel put out by such changes, some will stay with it be that economical evaluation or hassles in moving (not everybody a tech head), so a complacency lock-in happens with so many. Personally the straw with google came from the endless robotic termination stories having all the services pulled for one misinterpreted action upon on another service they just happen to run. But more so the way they handled Google Music, forcing those who paid for content to be shafted towards a platform just forcing you to pay again as some subscription model to access features you had before and would expect. With that, faith in many things Google does will be tainted, however good intention they seem, the worst case down the line thoughts will stick out way more from all the past instances now. That all said, I do get it, companies operate to make profit, otherwise they are not a company but a charity. Still, false advertising needs to catchup with the digital age and T&C needs some form of regulation as currently it's still a bit of a mess. After all, people brought Google Phones, sold by Google and some would of done so on the back of what was said in 2015 - so there is that whole avenue of debate that may play out legally. So could be something that gets more depth in the comming months. |