Does the Google App Engine still matter?

Although it started three years ago with the promise of almost infinite scalability and a big echo in the community, it has become quiet around the Google App Engine. Google trends reveals that search traffic is flat and the latest news listed is 2 years old. That does not indicate a lot of interest. Despite the App Engine team pushing out new releases and features regularly, we are asking ourselves the question, “Does supporting the App Engine with Eclipse RAP still matter?”

App Engine - flat search traffic, no recent news

With recent changes in RAP (simple lifecycle) it has become possible to support the App Engine. However, the restrictions of the App Engine require us to write code specifically for the App Engine, e.g. for supporting server push (aka Comet, UICallback in Eclipse RAP). And, there will be no OSGi available since you can´t use threads. Eclipse RAP can run without OSGi, but when do the compromises outweigh the benefits? See this blog if you are interested in how you can get burned if you believe infinite scalability comes for free.

So, what is your take on the Google App Engine? Any positive or negative experiences? How intrusive is the application model and do you think it´s worth supporting?

Looking forward to your comments.