Google I/O 2017: New Tech, Old Tricks

Google is re-purposing their old ideas in creative, new ways.

At Google I/O 2017, Google launched a slew of incredible new products and features but if a lot of it sounded familiar it’s because Google has tried and launched many of them before in different forms. For many of the new features Google announced, there’s some old product that tried to do the same but failed or disappointed.

Google Lens = Google Goggles 2.0

Google Goggles promised just about everything Google Lens looks to deliver on today but it’s limited functionality and general iffiness didn’t lead to wide adoption. Lens bakes that functionality into various apps and it’s everything you hoped Goggles would be.

Phone Calls on Google Home = Google Voice

Free phone calls to the US/Canada through your Google Home sounds exactly like the long forgotten Voice that was beloved by the tech world. This time it’s made easily accessible in the most natural setting and it’s not hard to see that same functionality coming to the Phone app on Android devices.

Proactive Assistance = Google Now

Another outlet for the awesome features Google introduced with Google Now 4 years ago. It’s a neat re-purposing of one of their most under-recognized features.

With tons of innovative ideas that failed there’s potential for lots of them to reappear in new products soon.