201–210 of 296 posts
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> I always believed Google was successful because it was pushed and advocated for by geeks, I feel that those days are coming to an end. Those days ended the day Google went public, and quite possibly well before then.
I think the change happened when Eric Schmidt left and Larry Page gave his "more wood behind fewer arrows" speech, which meant engineers down product managers up.
> “Some new features for your Google account.” Oh, yeah, I remember that. I totally clicked "Ok, whatever." How does one not be herded like cattle by the corporations, without making a full time job of resisting it?
Well, my wife and I just ordered dumb phones and an AWS 2FA key fob (remember those?) which will be here this weekend, we're selling all our screens except one family PC. I sold off my Oculus Rift and gaming PC a month ago. We're going to have to buy a flashlight, GPS or maybe just a map book, calculator, a CD player, a Blu-Ray burner, a day planner, a wristwatch, a kitchen timer, get a library card, a shared calenda…
The marketers and advertisers have finally won. Google hasn't been an engineering company for the last 5 years maybe, but this confirms it. It's like Facebook, they're beholden to the non-developers and non-software engineers who frankly don't care about other people's privacy and only see the dollar bills. So glad I'm evaluating other email providers and use Privoxy for ad-blocking.
You can do that for other services but I do not see an easy alternate to Android. People are moaning about Microsoft tracking with Windows 10 which is mostly on home devices. In reality Google is worse, they are tracking us 24x7 via our smart phones.
1. Cyanogen Mod: This inherits too many of Android's fatal flaws.
2. FirefoxOS: Oh well. (It's dead, Jim.)
3. Ubuntu Mobile: It's still alive, though small.
4. Windows Mobile: Not my thing.
I may head to a small-form-factor notepad. I really like the concept of a folio-format tablet + bluetooth keyboard, though nobody seems to be making a general 9-10" device. I prefer this to an integrated & hinged laptop, or a smartphone type device, especially in WiFi-only capabilities. The basic hardware of my device is acceptable. The OS, lockdown, user-hostility, surveillence, intentionally broken crap, and App store ecosystem dyfunction are irredeemable.
I'm curious what bothers people most about the privacy issues? Strangely I don't care that Google (and others) know about me. I probably should but I have just sorted have accepted the lack of privacy today. What really bothers me isn't the privacy its them using that data to create a completely unfair advantage to continue the oligopoly that is quickly consuming all markets. I used to be such a capitalist but as of…
Have you ever searched for information on an ailment that might disqualify you from anything if you actually had it?
Have you ever spoken ill of a government official or policy?
Have you ever visited a location where government dissenters have visited before?
Have you ever searched for a history book about revolutions?
Any of these activities could be shared with other companies or the government and used against you in the future, if things should turn sour. People die in other countries where dissent is not allowed. Is there a reason you trust your future life to a marketing company in the present?
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You can do that for other services but I do not see an easy alternate to Android. People are moaning about Microsoft tracking with Windows 10 which is mostly on home devices. In reality Google is worse, they are tracking us 24x7 via our smart phones.
I am using (and hating hating hating hating hating) Android. I've been watching for alternatives. 1. Cyanogen Mod: This inherits too many of Android's fatal flaws. 2. FirefoxOS: Oh well. (It's dead, Jim.) 3. Ubuntu Mobile: It's still alive, though small. 4. Windows Mobile: Not my thing. I may head to a small-form-factor notepad. I really like the concept of a folio-format tablet + bluetooth keyboard, though nobody se…
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People need to start thinking of web forms, solicitations for email address, etc. like people used to think of the Columbia House record/CD club. There may be an instant-gratification payoff, but you'll regret it at leisure. Or, would you take a free sample to munch on if they first presented you with a 34-page legal agreement?
People rarely regretted joining Columbia House, so I'm not sure what you're referring to here. They really did give you a billion records for a penny, and all you had to do was opt out every month (or opt in, they had a lot of really good records in that catalog in the 90s at least.) They relied on people repeatedly forgetting to opt out, not the blatant subterfuge of modern business models. http://www.avclub.com/art…
They were literally a joke (several, actually) at the time. Consumer reports was overflowing with complaints. The only people I knew who didn't regret it were the ones who were cheating.
> They relied on people repeatedly forgetting to opt out, not the blatant subterfuge of modern business models.
I understand that others see things differently, and if you liked them, great for you. But businesses who rely on customers making mistakes about their own best interests are slime, in my view, and in that of many others.
The marketers and advertisers have finally won. Google hasn't been an engineering company for the last 5 years maybe, but this confirms it. It's like Facebook, they're beholden to the non-developers and non-software engineers who frankly don't care about other people's privacy and only see the dollar bills. So glad I'm evaluating other email providers and use Privoxy for ad-blocking.
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Yep there's something to be said about being addicted to screens and how it changes our attention span and focus. I've been trying to use my long commute to work to increase focus and be less agitated by distractions.
I'm just trying to grasp that second sentence.
The marketers and advertisers have finally won. Google hasn't been an engineering company for the last 5 years maybe, but this confirms it. It's like Facebook, they're beholden to the non-developers and non-software engineers who frankly don't care about other people's privacy and only see the dollar bills. So glad I'm evaluating other email providers and use Privoxy for ad-blocking.
Google has never been an engineering company, it's a search company with an engineering-focused culture and an ad-driven monetization model. Please don't paint broad unsubstantiated strokes over all "non-developers and non-software engineers". You mention Facebook as an example that's not engineering focused but fail to mention that their equity structure is such that Mark Zuckerberg has control effectively through t…
The marketers and advertisers have finally won. Google hasn't been an engineering company for the last 5 years maybe, but this confirms it. It's like Facebook, they're beholden to the non-developers and non-software engineers who frankly don't care about other people's privacy and only see the dollar bills. So glad I'm evaluating other email providers and use Privoxy for ad-blocking.
> Google hasn't been an engineering company for the last 5 years maybe I think Google always was an ad company, using technology to push ads and never a engineering company using ads as a source of income.