It is sometimes easy to forget how scattered the internet was in the past. We login to today’s internet and we can have access to a range of organisational platforms for both business and personal use right from your e-mail provider. Much like a supermarket, everything is under one roof.

It didn’t used to be under one roof however and often you had to go to different places for your document editor, e-mail provider, chat or messenger function and your photo storage. Obviously, different people use the internet in different ways but the vast majority of us have the use and need for certain key internet-based facilities and photos are a big part of that.

Of course, in the past there were no apps, mobile internet did not exist and there was no such thing as Instagram! (Strange to hear but it really was the case). This long-winded introduction is to set the scene that the internet used to be a very different place than it is today. Companies, developers and even internet users knew that certain facilities were needed but they were not refined. Function over fashion you might say.

Google’s Picasa photo storage and sharing application is a symbol of that but Google has finally announced that it is to be no more.

Streamlined and Simple

Google Apps are, for many internet users, an integral part of the way they handle internet communication. Photos are a part of that and Google has offered Google Photos for a while now as part of its communication offering. In short, there is simply no need to Picasa, a legacy application of an internet which no longer exists. But Picasa was Picasa and Google is Google, no? Well, yes. It is true that the beast that Google has become is all encompassing and essentially you cannot pick and choose which part of the Google family you are part of. Some people, understandably, do not want this and like to spread their application usage among a number of different providers, whatever suits their needs.

The problem is, with photo storage especially, that because it is so old the sheer amount of content per each active user is staggering. While you can simply log into Google Photos and your existing Picasa content will be ported over if you do not wish to use Google what will become of your photos and videos?

To their credit, Google has thought of this and has promised Picasa users “a new place to access your Picasa Web Albums data.” It is unclear what this “new place” will be but it is likely to be a simple ‘view and download’ application.

Goodbye Web 1.0

It is not exactly a sad day that Google is saying goodbye to Picasa. The application will still run but there will no longer be any updates or bug fixes so if you do choose to use the old Picasa you have been warned. Picasa being shut down is an acknowledgement of the future and that while services like Picasa (it was never really an application as the word means now) had their place they no longer belong in the internet of today.

Picasa will officially shut shop on March 16 though Google will not roll out any Picasa to Google Photos transitions will not take place until May. For now then, it is time to say so long to Picasa and, to paraphrase Douglas Adams ‘thanks for all the pics.’