Re:Sparrow acquired by Google
by gurkendoktor on Friday July 20, 2012 @02:59PM
(#4272365)
Alternatively, open-source Sparrow. I don't think it's the source code that Google bought them for.
Would be wonderful if it happened, but Google seems to be a place where good acquisitions go to die.
Re:Sparrow acquired by Google
by nickpresta on Friday July 20, 2012 @04:39PM
(#4272793)
Really?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Google http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/23/googles-david-lawee-one-thi...
So really, Google seems to be the place where 1/3 of acquisitions (in which not 100% are "good", per se) go to die.
These are not the success stories of Sparrow, but 3 that I recall that when purchased went dark in some form, to (possibly) re-emerge less than their former selves.
http://etherpad.com/ http://arstechnica.com/business/2008/01/jaiku-users-flee-to-... http://techcrunch.com/2008/02/27/it-took-16-months-but-googl...
Its not to say that this acquisition is not a great thing for the Sparrow team, or that Gmail may someday improve (UI wise), but it is an unfortunate trend for users when a great small / niche product is absorbed and obliterated.
Another viewpoint: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/07/you-sh...
Its OK to sell, but they should have pushed Google to maintain an support Sparrow for at least 2 more years.