Google Catalogs | Hacker News Reader

Google Catalogs

google.com

45 pointscskau21 comments

Google first launched their online catalog service in 2002, but shut it down in 2009. Browse via the Wayback Machine here: http://web.archive.org/web/20080828155311/http://catalog.goo...

Interesting to see that they've revived it as an iOS tablet-only product. It does make sense that the tablet crowd would have higher disposable income than the general internet population. Given the emerging popularity of eBooks on tablet-style devices, catalogs are the logical next step.

Sounds like something perfect for HTML. I'll never understand why companies are ok with releasing a product that works on one specific device but are unwilling to release a product that works on one specific html layout engine. Google, of all companies, should do this. Instead they hold back their web apps and demand that they work on all modern browsers. When is Google going to lead the charge by using all of the latest CSS3 effects? Google Catalogs could have been awesome as a Chrome app.

Finally, our long nightmare of not being tracked when looking at paper catalogs is over.

Finally, I can waste a lot of paper and thus bring global warming and hence, increase food production!

why are people so afraid of having marketers know what they like? i'd rather be served relevant ads than irrelevant ones.

You mean why are people so afraid of anyone at all with money or legal force knowing everything they've ever expressed any interest in without any context to explain the degree of or reason for the interest?

http://www.dataliberation.org/

^ You can always delete your data, at least for the given list of products.

I've downloaded this, and it's very easy to see why it's an iPad app. The experience is like reading a real catalog (gorgeous magazine-like layout and photos) but with more information accessible at a touch. Frankly, if this was on the web, it would feel weird, very un-webby, un-ecommerce.

Maybe if more apps like this started showing up on the web that opinion (of what is webby) would change, but for now it's the right style for the medium they chose (or the right medium for the style they wanted to convey).

FWIW, I love the app, I wish it had more catalogs I shopped from.

Had the feeling a bunch of years ago that Google wanted the web to be a vibrant, creative, interesting place.

But, I guess online shopping and Angry Birds is the real objective.

And what will pay for that vibrant, creative, interesting place otherwise?

Recent behavior has indicated that they've moved from 'subsidizing innovation' to 'making boatloads of internet cash' now that the stock market expects them to be infinitely profitable.

Can anyone who's used this gather whether it's built with iOS APIs or HTML5? Looks a little too perfect for HTML5, which is too bad for Android tablets (and the three people who own one).

Since this has been tried lots of times and no one has done it successfully yet and there's just not that large a market for this it may not have made sense to focus a lot of cutting-edge web engineering prowess at this.

iOS only, really? I mean I wouldn't have any use for this most days but this could be nice come black friday.

Yep, this baffles me. The iOS product will bring in more ad revenue due to the success of the iPad but I'm surprised that they didn't develop and release an Android version as well. It's a bad sign for Android tablets when Google starts giving priorities to the rival OS.

I think it would be a much worse sign if a separate group within Google launched a product (which required signing up partners) and the initial product wasn't targeted for the dominant tablet platform.

I am surprised that they didn't try to make this "web-based", but if you're going to launch a product like this as a native application, it would be downright foolish not to do so first on the iPad.

This feels awkward. Why is Google marketing the iPad?

Google is marketing item-by-item shopping analytics to catalog retailers. You are the product.