Google has announced they’re dropping Schemer, their odd service meant to get people involved in activities. If you’re a Schemer user, data will be available for extraction through February 7th. The shuttering of Schemer closes a strange chapter for Google services, but redirects users to another, more robust offering.
Schemer was pretty easy to use, but offered limited functionality on several fronts. You could add a task, and others were invited to join you in accomplishing that. Let’s say you noted that you wanted to go see a movie that was coming out. Others could see your list item, and agree that they wanted to see it as well. That, uh, that was about it, though. There was no function for getting folks together, or anything else with noting.
Fun for creating a bucket list of sorts, but limited elsewhere. It was a really neat feature for seeing what your friends on social media were into, but otherwise, not really useful or interesting. We never thought Schemer was long for this world, but we assumed it would be rolled into Google+, where it seemed like it could find a fitting home. Google is shuttering it, though, and probably for the best.
For now, Google is allowing those with data in Schemer to download it, which is available through February 7. Users who lament Schemer’s closing are being pointed to Field Trip, where the “Explore” function is the de facto replacement. Field Trip and the Explore function are meant to get you involved in cool things around your city, and acts more like a “do it now” function than Schemer’s often “I’d really like to” service.
