Hangouts are great but that's about it as far as Google+ goes. I think that having these things as standalone apps will be better. I would consider using just Google Hangouts, more-so than having to log into a social account that I don't want in order to use it. Killing Reader is almost as bad as the Plus fiasco.
Perhaps it has to do with brand association. Because of the vernacular 'to google' I tend to associate it with 'non-knowingness'. You google something because you don't know about it. Nobody wants to google their friends all the time. That seems to be it. To make a successful social product I think they'd have to keep it as far away under the umbrella of Google as possible.
Damn. That's a hell of a good read. I never paid any attention to Google+ let alone how it was fairing, so this is all new to me. I wonder if things really were obviously that bad the whole way through, or if this is one of those "hindsight is 20/20" deals.
It was the Facebook killer when it was in beta and you needed an invite. Then it launched and no one left Facebook for G+ and it was quickly forgotten. Google shits the bed on everything except search and Android. But Microsoft, Sony, Apple are expected to hit home runs with every product release. What's the fucking deal?
Honestly, the outlook of Google+ at any point becoming profitable is so far gone that I think it's sound for them to cutt it off. Lamentable, yes, because I was just staring to find good posters (much like reader at the time of its beheading). On the other hand, Google is quick and to act on short term successes, such as its partnership with Uber on self driving cars, X-space challenge (or whatever it was called) but the company doesn't seem to have the patience for long term profit sinks. If a product doesn't have an instant profitablity, it disappears.
Microsoft, Sony, and Apple are expected to hit home runs with every product release because their marketing departments always point to the fences. With most products, Google just kind of pushes them out the door. Google+ excepted, but you can't say it didn't get shit for being a massive flop.
That was a really good and informative article. Personal Anecdote: I actually use Google plus quite a bit, with the introduction of the "Collections" feature. I've actually created a collection that has over 4,000 people following it and often times the comments will create some pretty good conversations. I use Google plus as a sort of news stream type tool. It has an active community you just need to reach out and find what you want to talk about. For example there are communities on Landscape Photography which I've shared photos with and the cool thing about that is you get constructive feedback from other users. I use Google plus more than facebook but I guess I'm weird like that, haha.