Another Google Product bites the dust

> Google intended the messaging program, launched in 2009, to be a near-replacement for e-mail, which it said had grown tired. > > But on Wednesday, the company announced that it is shuttering the project by the end of the year because it didn’t have traction with consumers. Again, I’ll ask the obvious: If Apple were to dump a brand new product in less than a year after it had shipped, how different would the press reaction be? Where would Apple’s stock be the next morning?

This is the second official FAIL for Google in the past few months. Nexus One and now Wave. What’s next? How’s Buzz doing? Where are all those Android tablets that were talked about at CES this past January?

Google is starting to look more and more like Microsoft every day. One or two hit products, and a whole lot of stuff that goes nowhere.

For the record, I thought Wave was a great idea. It was taking on a challenge that was probably far greater in scope than most people realize. So success for Wave would have been a MAJOR accomplishment. It’s not every day you change the way people communicate, after all. But after a few sessions with Wave, it became apparent that it was suffering from the same issues that most Google products suffer from; that is, they are designed by people who don’t understand normal people. Wave would only be useful if other people started using it, too. So the UI was essential. If Google wanted Wave to succeed, it needed to FOCUS on getting the user adoption moving, first by nailing the UI, and second by promoting the crap out of it. But focus is the one thing Google desperately lacks right now.

GMail succeeded because it had Google’s full attention. Wave got nothing but an initial press event.

And, for god sakes, stop making me use the browser for everything.