Google: Fitbit and kiss of death

[Trell]

Google acquired Fitbit in 2021 and in October users won’t be able to synch it with your desktop.

Google is completely unreliable. If Google buy a product you use you should look for an alternative at once.

We avoid to rely on Google services and we ditched Android mobiles for Apple a few years ago. Before that we were longtime Android users. Hopefully Gmail and google search will be around for some time, as well as YouTube. Other than that, not that important.

Fitbits will soon lose the ability to sync with computers

Fitbit points PC syncers to Pandora, Deezer subscriptions for downloading music.

arstechnica.com

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Another very long-term Android fan switched sides for MUCH longer software support, No annual changes of instant chat software, and I will never forgive them for killing Google Reader (RSS reader)

Edit:

The Google Cemetery - Dead Google products

A list of dead google products and services and why they died.

gcemetery.co

166 Killed projects!!! (so far)

 

[Trell]

Another very long-term Android fan switched sides for MUCH longer software support, No annual changes of instant chat software, and I will never forgive them for killing Google Reader (RSS reader)

We still have several Android mobiles working working very well indeed, except no security updates, so they are no longer used. These are Sony Xperia compact models, so near flagship and powerful still for normal usage.

Pissed me off enough at last to switch as I don’t like throwing out perfectly fine hardware. Yeah, I buy the mobiles in my family.

With flagship Android mobiles expensive as they now are, why not buy Apple that has a history of very long support? It’s even cheaper in the end.

 

[shadyJ]

I was a user for a google workspace that was run by an admin for a group of domain names. On Saturday, the entire workgroup was suspended. The admin has been MIA for awhile, and the domain owner is a faceless entity. As a mere user, I can not access my workspace account in any way. I have lost access to my email account. I have just lost a lot of work, most of my reviews, spreadsheets, slideshows, all gone, with no way to recover them. I was an idiot for not backing my stuff up locally, I know. It's sad that google doesn't offer any way to recover data from an account that was a member of a workgroup where the admin just left the planet. This was a sucky weekend.

 

[Trell]

I was a user for a google workspace that was run by an admin for a group of domain names. On Saturday, the entire workgroup was suspended. The admin has been MIA for awhile, and the domain owner is a faceless entity. As a mere user, I can not access my workspace account in any way. I have lost access to my email account. I have just lost a lot of work, most of my reviews, spreadsheets, slideshows, all gone, with no way to recover them. I was an idiot for not backing my stuff up locally, I know. It's sad that google doesn't offer any way to recover data from an account that was a member of a workgroup where the admin just left the planet. This was a sucky weekend.

Oh my, that really sucks! I hope it works out for you.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I was a user for a google workspace that was run by an admin for a group of domain names. On Saturday, the entire workgroup was suspended. The admin has been MIA for awhile, and the domain owner is a faceless entity. As a mere user, I can not access my workspace account in any way. I have lost access to my email account. I have just lost a lot of work, most of my reviews, spreadsheets, slideshows, all gone, with no way to recover them. I was an idiot for not backing my stuff up locally, I know. It's sad that google doesn't offer any way to recover data from an account that was a member of a workgroup where the admin just left the planet. This was a sucky weekend.

you aren't kidding about exporting. The list of requirements besides being only available to super admin has a long list of other stuff.

 

[panteragstk]

I was a user for a google workspace that was run by an admin for a group of domain names. On Saturday, the entire workgroup was suspended. The admin has been MIA for awhile, and the domain owner is a faceless entity. As a mere user, I can not access my workspace account in any way. I have lost access to my email account. I have just lost a lot of work, most of my reviews, spreadsheets, slideshows, all gone, with no way to recover them. I was an idiot for not backing my stuff up locally, I know. It's sad that google doesn't offer any way to recover data from an account that was a member of a workgroup where the admin just left the planet. This was a sucky weekend.

This would be why I'd never recommend Chromebooks. Cloud is great when you also have an on-prem backup. Never trust just one solution.

Really sorry that happened. That's crazy.

 

[panteragstk]

you aren't kidding about exporting. The list of requirements besides being only available to super admin has a long list of other stuff.

I groan audibly when a customer says they're using Google Workspace. I may not be a huge MS fan, but onedrive and the way it backs things up automatically (depending on setup of course) works pretty wonderfully.

 

[panteragstk]

I'd really love to ditch all my google stuff, but the amount of effort it'd take me to migrate to something else isn't something I'll have time to do, much less maintain.

I deal with both Google and Apple professionally so I can appreciate certain things they both do, but at the same time I am also fully aware of their deficiencies as companies and the products they produce.

Apple's is a closed ecosystem (RCS vs iMessage being a big one).. That is a non starter for me. I honestly just don't like their products and never have. 100% personal opinion of course.

Android is great, but the phone manufacturers ruin it. Samsung as a whole is another company I just avoid personally. However, they've promised 4 years of security updates (at a minimum) on all their devices. That's a game changer for them, but it took too long honestly.

I really only use Google phones because they have the basic features I want. Call screening is a big one for me and the Pixel line is great. Their cheaper phones have worked great for us.

Now, I also use Fitbit devices and have for a long time. I wasn't thrilled when Google bought them, but they haven't screwed anything up YET. I don't sync with my desktop so this doesn't bother me.

BUT as @BoredSysAdmin said they abandon more projects than anyone else I can think of. I've been pretty pissed by quite a few of their cancellations. Nest is another one they screwed the pooch on. Google wi-fi isn't nearly configurable enough. I could go on.