(Because of the negative public reaction, it appears that Google and Etherpad are changing their plans now)

Etherpad, the great collaborative tool that is on both The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration and The Best Online Tools For Collaboration — NOT In Real Time , was bought by Google yesterday and they’re shutting it down.

No new accounts can be created, and the whole service will close-up by March.

It’s too bad…