This summer, July 1 to be exact, the Google Reader RSS service will cease to exist. Google is getting rid of it, citing a declining user base. That is bad news for fans of the RSS service. But it’s also a learning point: Consumers ought to recognize that any one of their most favorite cloud-based services can disappear. Don’t expect Google Reader to be the last one to do so.
Nothing’s permanent?
The realm of the cloud is an ever-changing one. Companies add new products. And also they pull the ones that aren’t performing well. That’s what happened with Google Reader. It’s something that Farhad Manjoo, a writer with Slate, says that consumers should be expecting to see more often. Nothing that resides in the cloud is assured eternal life, Manjoo writes. Google promoted Reader as though it was going to be an enduring part of the company. But that obviously isn’t the case. So be warned, Manjoo writes, there’s no guarantee that your other favorite cloud software will live forever, either.
Disappearing services
As Manjoo writes, Reader’s death highlights one of the primary downsides of cloud-based software: It could be highly impermanent. You will never know when your favorite service will disappear. Naturally, back in the days before the cloud became so popular, we all had favorite word-processing systems, spreadsheet programs and game series that manufacturers suddenly discontinued. However, you could still access those programs on your own discs. With cloud services, though, that’s not the case. When they’re gone, they’re gone, as fans of Reader will soon learn.
A bleaker future for Google?
Consumers aren’t the only ones facing tough issues with the demise of Reader. Google does, too. As the Economist explains in a recent article, when Google introduces something new, it expects consumers to flock to it. But why should consumers do that if there’s a chance that Google will just get rid of the products? Getting rid of Reader might have made financial sense for Google. However, it may cause consumers to hesitate before embracing the company’s next cloud-based service.