Q: Did Apple kill Topsy?

JonWZee wrote:

 

Fine, Apple should feel free to gut topsy and replace it with another web service.

Why?  There seem to be a bunch of Twitter search apps in the App Store already?

and btw, the complaint about QuickOffice Pro's sudden death was that Google docs does not even come close to a replacement - Google bought it, gutted its functionality and then simply told everyone to use their own apps even when those could not replace QuickOffice functionality.

google's motto may be "do no evil" but they are just as big business as any and every other huge corporation.

JonWZee wrote:

 

Fair point. There is a lot of exploitation going on with the web.

 

But I go back to my original question. How can a legitimate company abruptly shutdown a service with no alternative?  I grant you, Apple is a  big company, and this is probably more an example of ignorance vs evil.

They own it, they can do whatever they want with it. It's not regulated. How can GM just kill off a brand like Pontiac or Oldsmobile? or Chrysler kill Plymouth, or Saab just shut down. They just do. It no longer makes financial sense to continue with it, so it's dead. Gone.

I can't count the number of times I've had to find alternatives for internet based services I was using that just went belly up. You apparently weren't around when the dot-com bubble burst.

Companies can sell whatever people buy, the object is to make money.

No, what you've wandered into is called "the real world". Companies kill services and products all the time without going out of business. Have you bothered to look at your beloved google at all?

JonWZee wrote:

 

OK, it appears I've wondered into an Apple "drink the kool-aid" fest.

 

I was wondering what happened to topsy, and if there was going to be a WEB based alternative (I use full sized computers).

 

I understand that services disappear when companies go out of business. In this case, it appears that Apple bought the company, and just cold-cocked the service.

 

As for free use. Yes, of course, if you use a free product, YOU are the product. Doesn't mean that a company should play the "we don't care, we don't have to" card.

Why shouldn't Apple "cold-c*ck" a service that they own if they want to, this is a free society even if you don't like that.

JonWZee wrote:

 

OK, it appears I've wondered into an Apple "drink the kool-aid" fest.

 

I was wondering what happened to topsy, and if there was going to be a WEB based alternative (I use full sized computers).

 

I understand that services disappear when companies go out of business. In this case, it appears that Apple bought the company, and just cold-cocked the service.

 

As for free use. Yes, of course, if you use a free product, YOU are the product. Doesn't mean that a company should play the "we don't care, we don't have to" card.

I love how when people come here and others simply disagree with their world view, they play the "apple kool-aid" or "fanboy" card, as if that is anything but a cop out argument in its own right.

JonWZee wrote:

 

Yep, Google has done a good job of migrating "Grand Central" to Google Voice, and now integrating into other products. They don't make money from the free service, but seem to continue offering it as "good will" to its customers.

I don't recall any other company "cold-cocking" a service as Apple did with topsy.

Google have done it to many services they once offered. As is their (and Apples) right.

JonWZee wrote:

 

Really, I've never seen a non-bankrupt company pull this type of thing.

Then you haven't been paying attention.

JonWZee wrote:

 

I came here to ask about plans for topsy replacement. I've never seen a successful company just shutdown a service and redirect it to a worthless webpage.

No, you came here to rant. As for plans for a topsy replacement, no-one here would have any idea what Apple has planned. Anything anyone here could say about it would be rumor or speculation with are prohibited by the Apple Support Communities Terms of Use.

JonWZee wrote:

 

Look, I've been on the 'net since 1995. 

So what? My first email was a bitnet address.  No idea what that statement has to do with anything. 

I've seen numerous web service acquisitions over the years where clearly the whole point of the purchase was to remove a service to drive business to "something else". Sometimes that something else was immediately available, sometimes at a later time, and sometimes the service was simply never replaced. There appear to be apps in the App Store that duplicate topsy functions. Whether there are comparable apps for OS X I have no idea.  As to why Apple, or any other company does what it does, nobody here has any idea about Apple internal corporate decisions.

JonWZee wrote:

 

Look, I've been on the 'net since 1995.  At that time Apple didn't even have TCP/IP code, they got it from a garage shop called "rockstar" (or something to that effect).  Really, I've never seen a non-bankrupt company pull this type of thing. I like to believe it's due to ignorance and not disinterest.

 

I came here to ask about plans for topsy replacement. I've never seen a successful company just shutdown a service and redirect it to a worthless webpage.

Well, there's this company you've probably never heard of, called Microsoft, that's been doing it for years. The most recent one I can think if is a very nice calendar service called "Sunrise".