I feel like killing Reader was the point at which I switched from viewing Google mostly positively to more skeptically. Which doesn't seem terribly rational, really; it wasn't the first product to be axed, it was perfectly possible to replace... Maybe it was just the first product axing that really affected me? The moment Google went from "provider of great free stuff" to "sometimes provider of free stuff, sometimes kills stuff" is the moment it became unreliable, the moment I had to stop and consider whether their interests really aligned with mine rather than just assuming so. Or maybe I'm just bitter over nothing:)
Edit: Perhaps a better phrasing: Before, if you asked "will this useful Google product be here in a year", I would answer "yes". After, I could only say "maybe". And that made all the difference.
Edit: Perhaps a better phrasing: Before, if you asked "will this useful Google product be here in a year", I would answer "yes". After, I could only say "maybe". And that made all the difference.