Just a week after the death of Google Reader, Google has announced it will take the axe to another of its creations. From August 9, Google Latitude will join its ill-fated compatriots in Web Service Heaven, leaving behind a relatively small number of devoted fans and users.
If you’re unfamiliar with Latitude we don’t blame you. It’s essentially a way to keep track of your friends location that actively and constantly broadcasts your exact location to anyone on your approved list of friends.
Latitude allows users to post updates, check-in to venues and easily located friends in their area. It was a simple concept, but one that never gained much traction with Google and Android users.
Are there alternatives?
Just in case you were a big fan of Latitude, Google has offered some advice regarding alternatives.
"Location Reporting and History settings for all your Google apps and services have been combined into a single setting for your device. Check-ins are available in the Google+ for Mobile app. You can also share your location with your circles, and see your friends on the map, with the Location sharing feature of Google+ on Android and coming soon for iOS."
Trimming the fat
Google’s doing its best to move towards a proper cross-platform ecosystem. More and more multi-purpose services are being instituted, effectively making comparably one-dimensional relics like Latitude redundant. While we still lament the loss of Reader, we don’t think we’ll feel a keen stab of loss at the passing of Latitude.
We expect to see a lot of Google’s less-used and more esoteric services start dropping away as time passes. What do you think Google will kill off next? Blogger, maybe?
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