Typical Lively: Anonymous Authors, Standard Rooms, 0 Visitors...

Not everything that Google touches turns into gold immediately.

Personally i liked Google’s 3D-Chat Lively when it launched in early July. Now, only 4 and a half months later, it’s over. Google is shutting down Lively on December 31.

It’s a tough decision - but isn’t it a bit too harsh?

I mean, Lively was far from being perfect or innovative. I always thought it was launched way too soon. Too many bugs (really terrible ones) a strange login/logoff/login/logoff-procedure and not the quickest support on board…

But it wasn’t that bad! Not bad enough to be killed after such a short term! I’m wondering why they not only put Lively back into Google Labs and give it time to improve and grow in silence…

OK, after all i think it’s a money decision. There’s no money to earn in Lively, not for Google and not for occupants with professional or semi-professional ambitions. Those are still in Second Life…

Who cares, it’s over.

The MXM-Room will stay open until the very last second. Soon i will visit the room and make some screenshots that i will post here. Just to remember…

I’m sorry for all who joined Lively and are getting homeless again ;)

Google still hasn’t fixed the problem with the Photo-Frames in Lively which makes it really hard to use the new 3D-Chat for serious or halfway professional reasons.

Without the Photo-Frames it’s absolutely impossible to add individual branding, logos or artwork to a room. Actually most rooms look pretty much identical which can get very boring after little time.

In fact, after some big headlines and many euphoric critiques 2 weeks ago, Google Lively is far away from being the next big thing in cyberspace.

It’s just nice that Google has its own 3D-Chat now but i can’t see the Google-typical trend setting innovation – no matter how hard i try.

Anyway, i visit Lively almost every day and still have decorated my own chatroom to exhibit some hand-picked pictures and possibly meet a few MXM-Followers – anytime in the future.

Here are a few preview shots…

continue reading: The MXM-Room in Lively: A Preview!