Companies have been saying "write for our platform, it's all good, we won't screw you over in the future, honest" for years. Sometimes it's true.
I'm not sure what they're "up front" about. What have they said, exactly? The most prominent thing I see is "preview", and I have no idea if that's supposed to sound more or less permanent than their typical subtitle, "beta".
I think what concerns people is the combination of (a) it's a very different platform than just about anything else, so you have to really commit, and (b) there's no guarantee, no roadmap, no nothing. Oh, and (c) Google will keep track of your users for you (how nice of them!).
It looks like a hiring tool. They like to buy companies with hot products, which is a good way to get hot programmers, but these programmers didn't (and couldn't) know the unique Google infrastructure. This is the logical solution to that.
On a personal note, I go have a beer with my friends at Amazon and they tell me "such-and-such a service will definitely be around for at least another year, and probably much longer, and we're planning X and Y and Z for it". But on the rare occasions my friends at Google hang out with me, they barely even tell me what project they're on; everything is ultra-secret. The whole corporate culture makes me suspicious.
"But on the rare occasions my friends at Google hang out with me, they barely even tell me what project they're on; everything is ultra-secret. The whole corporate culture makes me suspicious."
I wonder how google inculcates this culture in its developers? Serious question.
Most developers I know are more like the amazon devs than the google ones. Not that they blab about what they are doing to all and sundry, but most of my friends don't have any problems talking about what they are doing.
Interestingly enough I haven't encountered this "secrecy" in my friends who work at Google Bangalore. I guess Indians are a more garrulous people! (or my friends really trust me).
I'm not sure what they're "up front" about. What have they said, exactly? The most prominent thing I see is "preview", and I have no idea if that's supposed to sound more or less permanent than their typical subtitle, "beta".
I think what concerns people is the combination of (a) it's a very different platform than just about anything else, so you have to really commit, and (b) there's no guarantee, no roadmap, no nothing. Oh, and (c) Google will keep track of your users for you (how nice of them!).
It looks like a hiring tool. They like to buy companies with hot products, which is a good way to get hot programmers, but these programmers didn't (and couldn't) know the unique Google infrastructure. This is the logical solution to that.
On a personal note, I go have a beer with my friends at Amazon and they tell me "such-and-such a service will definitely be around for at least another year, and probably much longer, and we're planning X and Y and Z for it". But on the rare occasions my friends at Google hang out with me, they barely even tell me what project they're on; everything is ultra-secret. The whole corporate culture makes me suspicious.