Dear Larry,

Please – stop it! You killed Google Reader. Then you killed Latitude. Then I just found out that you stopped supporting XMPP server-to-server federation back in March. No wonder I couldn’t get external friends to IM with me! I moved off of my own XMPP server to use Google because you supported federation. You complain that nobody is working towards open standards, so you pull your support for it? You’re supposed to be better than the other guy. Set an example, don’t play at their level. Microsoft will quickly pick me up where you so curtly dropped me off. They’re great at innovating neutralizations, even if they’ve never had an original thought in their entire existence.

Google is rapidly losing points with me. You used to appeal to tech geeks because of your open nature and support for open standards – even if “nobody else was doing it.” STOP MESSING THAT UP! That’s a weak excuse and you know it. It’s another thing if you want to publish a new spec BEFORE or AT THE SAME TIME you drop something like XMPP, but don’t be an ass and be like Facebook. I don’t want a walled garden.

Sincerely,

The guy who used to proselytize your services because of your support of open standards OR the canary in the coal mine.

P.S. You’re never gonna have what Facebook has. Do what you do best: create disruptions. Playing catch-up is not your forté. FOCUS.