And is it anymore than other big corporation? That pages lists 24 products, which doesn't seem that much to me. There have been plenty of stories about retired products at FB, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
Im not disputing that Google does this, but ever since Google Reader was stopped this has become a stock comment on basically every HN discussion on Google products (other than search & ads) and has long ceased to have any value at all, and seems to be just accepted as some gospel without any evidence that this is a bigger problem with Google than the other tech giants.
in jannes' and hk__2's defence, that Wikipedia category page looks very incomplete. I'm sure the number is far higher than 24.
Perhaps it's HN apophenia but Google's record of discontinuance does not seem insignificant - it is valid for anyone to be skeptical of their ability to maintain any newer product in the medium term.
That said, I think anyone who's followed Firebase closely since the acquisition should have reasons to have more confidence in their commitment in this one particular case.
The list forgot "Google Desktop Search" - One of my favorite google product.
I like it so much that I even found a old copy to install on windows 10. 6 years after it is discontinue and still much more useful and much faster than windows 10's search bar.
