Nik: Another great software company destroyed by Google

I bought NIk's photo suite back in 2012, and I loved it. Amazing photo effects. Made some really cool photos using it. Okay, sometimes I overdid it, but that's only natural when you're just starting out.

Then Google bought them, to get a leg up in the photo manipulation department, and made the product free (I'd paid $340 for it).

And then they stopped updating and supporting the software. Abandoned.

This adds to the list of products that I loved and that Google have killed (and the owners ... let's not forget, the owners chose to sell):

Zagat: The best restaurant guide in New York City. Yes, this stuff has moved online, but nothing as good has really replaced it.

Sparrow: Still the best email client for the Mac by far. Imagine what it could've been today if it'd been updated.

It's such a loss of beautiful creations when this happens. To me, creative output is way more valuable than money. Who cares about the money? What are you going to do with them, anyway, if all the beautifully crafted products are gone?

That's the tragedy of the society the way we've constructed. People go to work doing mediocre stuff so they can make money, but all they can spend the money on is mediocre crap made by other people who go to work just for the money. What's the point?!?

Update July 23rd: Also on the Google Graveyard are:

FeedBurner: Was doing interesting and innovative things in the #indieweb / #openweb space, bought by Google, and then nothing interesting happened. They seemingly just wanted the data and the control.

Google Reader wasn't a product they bought and then destroyed. They built it from scratch, ended up dominating RSS aggregation, and then killing it,  leaving the industry in a worse place than they found it.

Also worth a mention: Google Plus, a confusingly executed shitty idea that was forced on millions of people for no purpose other than egoic self-interest.