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Comment by CydeWeys | Hacker News Reader

These devices are heavily dependent on software running on servers in Amazon's cloud. They're being bricked only because those servers are being turned off because continuing to maintain the server software would be expensive and not to Amazon's gain.

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Maintaining it wouldn't sell more of this specific product, but simply shutting it down damages their reputation far beyond those directly impacted.

Does it?

Google shuts stuff down left and right and nobody seems to be leaving.

They just stopped buying more stuff from Google? All the products that people use are ones that have existed for years.

> and nobody seems to be leaving

I don't think you're right about that

I'd love to believe they were, but are they? I haven't seen anything to indicate that.

I did.

I used to pay for their stuff, but I have moved to Seafile and Fastmail. Only google product I still use is YouTube, everything else has been replaced and I don't consider new Google products anymore.

Google constantly shutting things down is precisely why I stopped using Firebase. I can't trust them

Indeed. I recently inherited a bunch of Amazon stock, and I sold it a few days ago because I just don't have much confidence in the way Amazon operates. Decisions like these (releasing products that are not profitable, bricking products shortly after release, etc.) make me think that the company is being poorly managed.

They didn't "simply shut it off", they gave everyone a full refund + $300 voucher.

And I guess they sold so few that this just made more sense to refund everyone than keeping maintaining the servers.

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