The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
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The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
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Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#2Direct link to video: https://player.vimeo.com/video/15852288
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#3OK, so this guy's problem with Google is that it doesn't give all of its perks to all employees? Why the hell would the company treat employees from significantly different labour markets the same way in the first place? Is there some crazy assumption that any employee should be equally valuable to the company?
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#4OK, so this guy's problem with Google is that it doesn't give all of its perks to all employees? Why the hell would the company treat employees from significantly different labour markets the same way in the first place? Is there some crazy assumption that any employee should be equally valuable to the company?
You seemed to have missed the 'race' aspect entirely; did you actually read the article?
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#5OK, so this guy's problem with Google is that it doesn't give all of its perks to all employees? Why the hell would the company treat employees from significantly different labour markets the same way in the first place? Is there some crazy assumption that any employee should be equally valuable to the company?
You seemed to have missed the 'race' aspect entirely; did you actually read the article?
I was under impression that race has correlation with education, skills and value on labour market all over US already, so if you picked a sample of random white-collar/blue-collar workers, you would see pretty much the same picture. How does it become Google's responsibility all of a sudden?
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seemed to have missed the 'race' aspect entirely; did you actually read the article?
I was under impression that race has correlation with education, skills and value on labour market all over US already, so if you picked a sample of random white-collar/blue-collar workers, you would see pretty much the same picture. How does it become Google's responsibility all of a sudden?
Because this guy with a grudge told you it was so.
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#7OK, so this guy's problem with Google is that it doesn't give all of its perks to all employees? Why the hell would the company treat employees from significantly different labour markets the same way in the first place? Is there some crazy assumption that any employee should be equally valuable to the company?
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Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#8I think the problem with Google is that it advertised (still does?) itself, in a rather believable way, as being be diverse, fun, everyone working together -- developers, janitors and artists all holding hands creating a brigher tomorrow and perhaps fighting against evil.
Well it worked for me back then, I really did believe Google was "Don't Be Evil" kind of company and so on, vis-a-vis say Microsoft, or say Walmart. Which were not evil, just you know, regular companies makign money. At least I remember buying into the PR.
So you see, Google took advantage of that image, and it worked out great for them. The problem is as soon as they went that way it became a high risk game, because from then on they will be judged according to that standard.
So I don't see a problem at all with criticizing it. It really set itself up to a higher standard, so there is nothing wrong with pointing fingers at it and saying "look at the hypocrisy".
The other more telling thing, is the story around it the video. How quickly this supposedly tollerant, open, diverse company moved to fire this person. You can only be tollerant and open as long as you are tollerant and open about approved things. You have the freedom to choose between the chocolate cake and the strawberry cake, but you don't get to ask how the cake is made, basically.
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#9What I find most interesting about this piece is the awesome lifestyle of flitting from grant to grant as a semi-celebrity in the international jet-set art world. Also lets you feel good about "leaking" your employer's information to "organizers." Take that, employer! And best of all, you get to use the word "show" as a nontransitive verb, as in "I showed at Venice."
Apparently this lifestyle is only available if you're a (to use the author's term) "Marxist." But then again, I suppose anyone can read Negri and Hardt if they're patient enough.
No word on what, if any, ideological filters Google is supposed to apply to its contractor pool so this doesn't happen again. Perhaps they could ask trap questions about postcolonial theory, rejecting anyone who answered correctly...
Re: The Artist Leaving the Googleplex
#10(Tedious disclaimer: my opinion only, not speaking for anybody else. I'm an SRE at Google.)
> sometimes mining information to leak to organizer friends
> After 9–12 hours on campus I would fill my Google-issued bag with Naked juices and to-go containers of food for my roommates
So... deliberate violation of the corporate NDA (which is massively disrespectful to the other people who work here) and stealing food from the cafes. I'm happy to work at a company that fires people who take something offered in good faith and abuse it. It is a part of our company culture to give people broad freedom to do what they think they should, on the understanding that they will act responsibly and not abuse the privilege.
(I can't comment much on the rest of the article, except to say that I feel a person who has openly admitted their tendency to dishonesty is perhaps not best afforded a high level of trust in the claims that they make)