14 DAY TRIAL // Google is known for taking risks and making long term bets, the self-driving cars are the most common example, but it is also known for shutting down projects that don't scale as the company wants, like Google Wave. Now it's announcing that it is shutting down two similarly ambitious projects that haven't caught on, Google Health and PowerMeter.
"Both were based on the idea that with more and better information, people can make smarter choices, whether in regard to managing personal health and wellness, or saving money and conserving energy at home," Aaron Brown, Senior Product Manager, Google Health and Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar wrote.
"While they didn't scale as we had hoped, we believe they did highlight the importance of access to information in areas where it’s traditionally been difficult," they explained.
Google Health will be shut down on January 1, 2012, but the data will be available for download for one more year. Users will be able to retrieve everything they've uploaded to the personal health record service.
Google is offering several ways of retrieving the data, there will be printable PDF files for all of the records stored in Health. Data can also be exported in the standard Continuity of Care Record (CCR) XML format.
Users also have the option of retrieving their data as CSV files. All of this, along with the original files uploaded are available in one big ZIP archive as well.
Google PowerMeter users will be able to download all of the data stored over time about their power usage as a simple CSV file. PowerMeter will continue to work until September 16 this year.
"By helping people make more informed decisions through greater access to more information, we believe Google Health and PowerMeter have been trailblazers in their respective categories," Google added.
"Ultimately though, we want to satisfy the most pressing needs for the greatest number of people. In the case of these two products, our inability to scale has led us to focus our priorities elsewhere," it explained.