I have developed software for a long time. One of the principles I always tried to follow was to avoid breaking what works.
One of the features I really liked when I switched to an Android device was that the birthday list in Google calendar brought up everyone in my contacts with a birthday that day. I could open their contact information to decide the best way to get in touch to say happy birthday. Sometimes this would be a call or email, but usually it would be through Facebook or LinkedIn.
So this morning, there were six folks I know who celebrate their birthday today. When I clicked on the first person, my handy Google calendar showed me their name and photo and gave me links to call them, email them or send a calendar invite. OK, probably the top options for family and close friends, but not for most others early on a Sunday.
So I look and say “OK, maybe they simplified, but I just click something to see the rest of their info”. Nope.
So to the product manager, developers and management at Google who thought this was a good idea, just wanted to say thanks for destroying a feature that delighted at least some of your customers.