sdb wrote:
Google seems to be culling a lot of products at the moment to "focus" according to their CEO. e.g get us all using google+...
I tend to agree with below. Sadly for all the amazing engineers Google have, they didn't push the boundaries nearly as much as I hoped they would with SketchUp.
That might explain why they decided to change the Gmail interface to something clunky, annoying, non-intuitive, and just plain godawful, despite all the complaints at their comment board from Gmail users insisting they go back to the old look and verbally insulting the Gmail developers.
They explained that the reason they decided to do it was because they thought (or figured) it would be a better experience for all Gmail users (despite the fact that virtually everyone hates it).
Of course the real reason for them barreling on with the change despite the complaints and dissatisfaction is because the new interface and look is supposed to be more amenable to more (annoying) ads and banners that they can inundate you with while you're trying to read your email messages.
I have never quite observed such tone-deafness when it comes to customer relations and I'm not really certain what is happening with the general Google management at the moment as they are a firm that have gone from having a great deal of public goodwill, to quickly becoming a poor imitation of an Autodesk-like monster.
I suppose a lot of it has to do with the pressure they feel in having to keep up with Apple and probably a lot of pressure from their shareholders, but geeez.....
