Michał Kałużny Oct 15, 2023
 -> [email protected]

Google recently killed off Pixel Pass, a service that would upgrade your Pixel phone after two years and include some extra goodies, like YT Premium, and 200 GB of Drive.

It lasted for only 23 months, meaning that nobody actually benefited from using this service, weeks before the Pixel 8 is released.

You can’t make this up. What an absolute joke of a company.

Oct 13, 2023 at 10:01amWeb
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023

The official statement is:

Why is Pixel Pass being discontinued?

We offer the best value of our hardware products and give users the flexibility to purchase their favorite services. We continue to evaluate offers based on customer feedback and provide different ways for them to access the best of Google.

There is more nutritional value in a Big Mac than in this entire paragraph

Show threadJulia :v_bi::therian:Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] I'd be less offended if they just wrote "fuck you"
Show threadMg. Gamer Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] i mean to be fair a big mac is calorie dense i don't think the analogy works here (unless i'm understanding it wrong)
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@gamer I should’ve said nutrional value lol, I’ll edit to reflect that
Show threadMg. Gamer Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] alas my instance doesn't support edits yet
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@gamer pain
Show threadator robotOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j they don't care to present the slightest pretence of good faith. they're not even interested in pinkwashing! they are secure in the knowledge that users can do nothing about it, and that most will continue using their services and phones.
Show threadLatte macchiato  Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected]

"Why is Pixel Pass being discontinued?"

"sike, you thought you'd get a free phone, loser. lmao"
Show threadKevin Karhan Oct 14, 2023

@yassie_j +9001%

Because McD doesn't make false promises but releases actual calories and other metrics for their products.

Show thread‮ ​  aynuL​‮‮Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j OMG, this is brilliant
Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] Remember infinite Google Photos storage for Pixel phones


or custom ROMs because most custom ROMs also did device spoofing and reported they're a Pixel
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@instereo256 Google basically has some kind of ADHD when it comes to developing anything
Show threadRuen - Moved to [email protected]Oct 14, 2023
@instereo256 @yassie_j Google actually still honors that and it still works with spoofed devices (I have a OnePlus 7T)
Show threadMair Oct 13, 2023

@yassie_j something I realised is that Google hasn't made a successful service since, well, Google lol

They just buy things that already work and turn them into Google services

Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@Mair_ even Android wasn’t originally theirs!!
Show threadMair Oct 13, 2023

@yassie_j I legitimately can't think of a thing they started that hasn't turned out mediocre or been cancelled

Google office suite maybe? Even then it's mid as hell and basically worse than word online

Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@Mair_ Search and… Gmail… Maybe Chromecast. I think that’s about it. The Pixel phones are good hardware, but good lord the software occasionally is awful
Show threadtokiohotelfan741 :ncas::freebsd: (neet arc)Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] @Mair_ chromecast had a predecessor that tried to compete with apple on the wrong ground

i don't know what it was called, the Nexus Orb?
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@instereo256 @Mair_ yes you’re right OMG, it absolutely sucked in every way possible
Show threadQCATOPR Oct 13, 2023
@Mair_ @yassie_j Not just the stuff they start. They bought the Postini spam filtering service and killed it months later.
Show threadYuki "neige d'aout" Hazuki 膤 ❄️ ​Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j yo what, how come I wasn't aware of this until now
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@Yuki Google has a weird advertising strat
Show threadFlop_YshOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j sounds like legal actions will be in order
Show threadmariskus🏳️‍⚧️Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j Google don't discontinue your new product challenge
Show threadM.O.M.O.Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] Don't worry, the enterprise side is also similarly fucked. They're jacking up the per person price for Google Workspaces by 25-50%. At this point, Google has:
* A tremendously failing R&D department, that produces a single 1x out of nine other -10xs
* Laid off employees that find they are stigmatized because of Google's culture & poor vendor relations
* Rock bottom consumer trust
* Rock bottom business to business trust
In other words, they're the Yahoo of the '20s.
Show threadTheriacOct 13, 2023
@[email protected]

Gosh YT premium - how could I refuse?.
Show threadStrykerOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j Oh that's baloney! Are they honoring the folks who bought the service in, say, the last month? Hypothetically, they should be able to upgrade it to the Pixel 9 at least and possibly the Pixel 10.
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@StrykerNoStriking nope! That’s the end of that!
Show threadStrykerOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j Oh that's complete horsehockey... 😡​
Show threadLuna Dragofelis ΘΔ moved to @[email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j I hope they get a hell of a class action lawsuit

this smells like fraud tbh, getting people to buy a subscription with the promise of getting a new phone, then cancelling the service before anyone had a chance to get what they paid for
Show threadRAOFOct 15, 2023

@LunaDragofelis @yassie_j This seems like a misunderstanding of what they were paying for?

The Pixel Pass was: pay for a phone in instalments over 2 years, and we'll throw in some discounts to other Google services. Users already got the “free” phone when they signed up two years ago. What they're losing is:

  • The ability to sign a new 2 year contract for a new phone, and
  • A bunch of bundled discounts on Google services.

It might suck to not get those extra discounts, but this “lol, Google's not going to give everyone the phones they've paid for” bit is just totally incorrect.

Show threadRAOFOct 15, 2023
@LunaDragofelis @yassie_j Or, an equivalent way to look at it: people who signed up two years ago already got a “free” Pixel 6, but are not being offered a “free” Pixel 8.
Show threadS T E L L A R  Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected] google killing off freatures randomly?'''' who could have seen that
Show threadKotesOct 13, 2023
@[email protected] So they didn't offer compensation?
Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@kotaro just $100 in Google Credit lol
Show threadkaszetaOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j Embrace, extend, and extinguish
Show threadTajomaOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j honestly was pixel pass really widely adopted? or even known at all? feels like google did no marketing for it
Show threadBeeblesOct 13, 2023

@yassie_j they're honoring all existing subscribers for 2 years from the date of subscription, anyone who bought a pixel pass will still get one full term

It's just like the stadia closures, they're 100% taking care of the customer, it's just embarassing that they had to close it.

Edit: changed another 2 years to 2 years from subscription

Show thread -> [email protected]Oct 13, 2023
@beebles “”By the end of the 2 year term, you can’t upgrade to a new phone with Pixel Pass.” That’s really the main thing that anyone would subscribe to Pixel Pass for.
Show threadBeeblesOct 13, 2023

@yassie_j huh... Guess I read the wrong FAQ entry,

Went back and read them all again and yea... dayum.

Show threadBeeblesOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j I got absolutely spoiled by the stadia closure, got $300 back and I still have 3 controllers and 3 chromecasts all for basically nothing. I just assumed they would do the "we don't want to be sued" approach and pay out the wazoo
Show threadaismallard (relocated!)Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j someone there must have a fetish for ending corporate products and they do it just for fun
Show threaddecibyteOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j sounds like the way most governments run their initiatives to combat climate change.
Show thread This is Mur Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j
Seeing Google's Stadia, Google Bard, Pixel Pass, and many other failed or failing endeavour they all have one thing in common, Google started them all cause their big competitors (like Microsoft, etc) were doing something in it and they wanted to steal the cake.
Show threadThreia (Discipline Arc)Oct 15, 2023
@mur2501 @yassie_j nothing original

remember their 3d model library?
Show thread This is Mur Oct 15, 2023

@threia @yassie_j
I think this is where Microsoft kinda beats Google, they still have some experimentations going where they are not afraid of setting foot in unknown territory.

Google on the other tries to make all it's projects look, work, feel like all it's other projects. which basically limits their experimentation.

Show threadFidgetOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j I was pissed. I paid for the service for almost 2 years, and all I get for my upgrade is a $100 coupon to the Fi store. I plan on switching carriers after this debacle, so I don’t think a coupon to Fi’s store is going to be particularly useful. Maybe I’ll get a smart watch, IDK.
Show threadDetun3dOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j
They're not too good at "Whatever"aaS.
@[email protected]
Show threadDaniël Franke 🏳️‍🌈Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j Classic... can't think of a single big tech company that I would trust as far as I could throw their datacenter.
Show threadPRNEOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j SEVEN 👏 YEARS 👏 OF 👏 SOFTWARE 👏 UPDATES
Show threadAnthony Lee (Created Hey.Cafe)Oct 14, 2023
@PRNE @yassie_j *maybe if we feel like it after a few years - Google.
Show threadlunchyOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j idk how they're not gonma get class actioned for that
Show threadEli the BeardedOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j No one ever benefited from the upgrade, but they got the two years of access.
Show threadKevinOnEarthOct 13, 2023
@yassie_j
Yeah but they sold a googol of devices on the back of that promise so what TF do they care🤷 !
Show threadOvadex Oct 13, 2023
@[email protected]
Show threadyakkoj 🦊Oct 13, 2023
@yassie_j jeez. I had my last phone for longer than this product was live.
Show threadKevin Karhan Oct 14, 2023
@yassie_j did they at least reimburse people's pay?