Google Shuts Down Patent Search Homepage, Picasa for Linux & More

Why not link to the horse's mouth: <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-cleaning-in-spring.html" rel="nofollow">http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/spring-cleaning-in-sp...</a>

At least they are integrating Patent Search into the core (which I think makes sense and happens to be something I like).

I guess Google should make a point and release a NaCl Picasa version.<p>If I could grant to a NaCl app the right to read photos from USB attached cameras and a folder on disk with read/write rights then there wouldn't be a need for a dedicated Linux version.

Isn't this the sound of a company that has reached it's practical limit of growth?

Dropping Linux Picasa is tellingly lame.

We need more open source cloud based software. The trouble with relying on services provided by companies and corporations is exactly this - they make no promise to do a hand-over should the service be discontinued.

Dropping Picasa for Linux is quite okay. Since it's a lame wined one. I hate it. Having a good HTML5 version would fulfill my needs to does not need a app for that.

One Pass shutdown is most interesting to me. It isn't old cruft that isn't interesting to Google anymore, it was a pretty bold year old forward looking project that launched with fanfare (mostly due to the in-app purchase controversy of time) and apparently just fell flat. Replacing it with a more Googley type of business like Customer Surveys is probably for the best, but seems like a retreat.

Is anyone else surprised at how many rounds of closures Google seem to announce? I'm not sure why these were kept through the previous 2 culls.

<p><pre><code> Google Sync for BlackBerry </code></pre> I wonder if this is a subtle way to nudge BBM users towards Android.

I was using most of them quite regularly. They are doing this so they all can focus on what ? Google+ , the shit that all going to do is wasting my time without helping me in anyway ? Google should change their motto to "Do not do stupid." with immediate effect.

The Patent Search shutdown is a dud to me. I wish the dedicated undiluted space continued.

What is the reason why Google is shutting down Patent Search and (they already shut down Uncle Sam)? I mean - does it really cost them a lot of money to keep these sites running but not update them? For search products like that they should at least make a google product archive to at least access some stuff that could be easily found via those search products even though they no longer update or provide support for them anymore.<p>They are going away from their motto of "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". Yes you can find patents via other means or get government info via other means but it's defeating the motto of making it universally accessible.<p>Google+ is ruining everything.