https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/01/google-has-no-faith-in-its-ability-to-launch-new-products/
Back when I was a product manager for a large mobile network operator, we faced a constant problem. How do you launch a new product to the public?
Most people are reluctant to try new things. Even in the exciting world of proto-smartphones, convincing someone to download, install, configure, and use a new app was difficult. Sure, we could run expensive advertising campaigns. Send hopeful text messages. Have a big celebrity endorsement. Or maybe get our customer service reps to push it.
In the end, we pre-installed it on every device we sold. Then we forcibly pushed it to every supported phone on our network. The backlash was incredible. As you might expect, people think of their phones as their own personal space. Having a new app shoved on there felt like an invasion. It took up memory space, true, but more importantly it took up psychological space. We had reminded customers that we thought of them as little more than cattle; a resource we controlled with an aim to extract value.
Google is in a similar boat today. They have absolutely no confidence that their Gemini AI Assistant is any good. They've run countless tests with customers and it is a dud. But they've invested a lot of money, so it needs to launch. Customers, in the main, decline to install it and they certainly refuse to pay for it. So what's Google's solution?
They have forcibly installed it, jacked up the prices, and made it impossible to remove.
These are not the actions of a company which believes in its own products.
To be fair to Google, it is a problem seen in many businesses. They crave instant success, they want to see massive overnight numbers, and they have a winner-takes-all mentality. But the real world isn't like that. Customers aren't morons but they lead busy and complex lives. You product is important to you, but it is utterly irrelevant to most customers. It is your job to convince people that your product has merits. You have to listen to them and get their consent.
People don't deserve to be tricked into installing something. Forcing people to use your product is disrespectful