When in Manila and the rest of the world, as 2013 ends tonight, let’s look back at all the tech-related stuff that we have lost throughout the entire year. With this, let’s all raise our glasses as we say our respect to them because they paved the way for newer and better tech trends that we look forward in 2014.
From the closing of curtains of one of the first social networking sites called Multiply to the bowing out of Nokia to Microsoft, let’s have a moment of silence, amidst the popping of champagne bottles and cracking of fireworks, to these great tech products and services. For tech nerds out there like me, here’s a tissue… I know you’ll shed a tear or two.
1. Multiply – Multiply first saw daylight in March 2004 as it served as a social networking platform with main focus on sharing of various media such as photos, videos, and blogs. During its heyday, Multiply had over 11 million registered users. Yet, in early 2012, Multiply changed its course as it announced its interest to transform from being a social network platform to an e-commerce platform. With this major change, it decided to delete its social networking hub including all hosted photos, videos, messages, and blogs so it can focus mainly on e-commerce. Multiply’s social networking portion ceased in May 6, 2013.
2. Nokia – The tech phone giant in the early 2000’s continued to go downhill as more and more users are turning to iOS or Android-powered smartphones. But Microsoft came to save the day (to say at the very least) when it acquired Nokia’s mobile device business. Microsoft has been the major OS provider to Nokia’s latest line of handsets known as “Windows Phones”. However, Android and iOS proceeded to reign in the smartphone field so there’s definitely a lot of groundwork to kickstart Nokia again. As part of the acquisition, Nokia executives will join Microsoft and Stephen Elop will step down as Nokia’s CEO to be the Microsoft Devices Tech Team Head.
3. Google Reader – Google, as a tech behemoth, has not spent a year without killing off a tech product or service. However, this behavior is not purely a bad thing since it also gives way to new and improved products and services, which has made Google a king. in 2013, Google killed one of its most popular applications called Google Reader. If you are a bookworm of RSS feeds, Google Reader was most likely your bestfriend. An RSS/Atom feed aggregator, Google Reader’s declining use resulted to its passing last July 1, 2013.
4. iGoogle – Another Google tech service that died in 2013 is iGoogle, which is a customizable personal web portal launched in May 2005. Google believed that the need for this kind of service has declined through time, which is why in November 1, 2013, iGoogle has retired.
5. HTC First – HTC First is one of the many mobile phones that has an integrated Facebook button, which is its major tech leverage in the smartphone field. However, Facebook launched Facebook Home, which worked almost the same way with this feature on the HTC First. Furthermore, Facebook Home became available on all Android devices, which somewhat makes an integrated Facebook button unnecessary. Additionally, reception of HTC First and Facebook Home was not as great as expected, which is why HTC decided to discontinue it just a few months after its release. On the other hand, Facebook Home still exists, though.
