[skytreader]

Ohhh Silicon Valley and your corporate euphemisms. What does it achieve now? Does it soften the blow for those who loved the service? Is this some kind of cover-your-ass thing legal advises them to practice?

I think I first saw the usage of this term either from Yahoo (wrt either GeoCities or Flickr) or Google (wrt Reader). Definitely around that era. IIRC it was on some company roadmap presentation that basically say "These services are scheduled to be sunset by <date>". Heck I even think those slides were leaked and not officially presented.

I like to think the first audience to encounter this usage of the word was similarly perplexed. "When you say 'sunset' you mean 'termination', right? What about the teams assigned to them?"

"'Termination'? Oh goodness, no. When we say 'sunset' we mean we leave them alone to naturally drive into a beautiful sunset."

No less perplexed, they put emphasis on their second question. "What about the teams then?"

With the cadence of a well-rehearsed actor, the facilitator responds, "Hey, sunsets. Very peaceful, very relaxing---who doesn't want those? You won't get that from staring at your computer screen all day!"