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Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

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Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#441

Post by the8472 »

EpicEng wrote: post #428
the8472 wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The floodgates need to close, now. Why? The internet itself is an open, uncurated platform. The basic ability to publish things and finding good content are two separate problems. Don't try to solve one by restricting the other.

Steam != The internet. No one is preventing people from marketing their crappy games on their own. I have to dig through a mountain of shit in hopes of _possibly_ finding something worth playing. It's bad for users.

But why should it be different from the rest of the internet? You also have to dig through mountains of shit to find, let's say HN.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#442

Post by mcpherrinm »

tln wrote: post #364
voltagex_ wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you have paid Google money If you've paid Google enough money. I have to keep paying $6AUD/month unless I want to lose $300+ of Android apps forever (Google Apps for Work). No chance of transferring them to another account (I'd pay $100+ for this)

That is a curious situation. Have you really paid for $300 of apps for yourself?

That doesn't seem so unusual to me. I've been using Android for about 6 years now, and I'd estimate I spend $2-5 a month on apps - the occasional $10 utility, some $1 games, etc.

6 years * 12 months/year * $3/month = 216 USD = 289 AUD.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#443

Post by MarkMc »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #437
MarkMc wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your analysis that Google basically sells "this person has just looked for this good or service, now who wants to respond?". But you seem to be ignoring the large, persistent information advantage that Google has over Bing. Consider 3 scenarios: 1. Person A just searched for "What's the best sports car?". 2. Person B just searched for "What's the best sports car?". He's a 45-year old man who works for an…

I don't disagree, but consider that person B is a 45 year old man working for an insurance company he is probably running Windows 10, and Microsoft knows quite a bit about him. My point is that in my opinion you are over valuing Google's user information advantage. Most purchasing and buying habit information is collected using web page based analytics to an advertiser rather than coming from Google directly. When Bl…

Yes, I could be overvaluing Google's access to all that personal data - particularly since I own shares in Google.

I wonder if there is some concrete way to measure that value. For example, imagine if we could find the "revenue per US user per month" for Bing and Google Search (ie. the search engine part of Google). Would that say anything about the value of personal data?

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#444

Post by eropple »

user5994461 wrote: post #390
eropple wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ever tried to install an adblocker on Android? Yes. Works across browsers and against in-app ads, too. https://block-this.com > Ever tried to install adblock/ublock on Chrome? Yes. > only to find out that it doesn't exist in the chrome store or was removed again. Under no circumstances. AdBlock Plus has never, as far as I know, been removed, nor has uBlock Origin.

Well. First commit 6 months ago, that thing is a novelty. Next we'll see how it goes when you'll try to explain to your sister and your mother how to use that android VPN to block ads.

I've audited literally every line of code in it myself and it's not a novelty. It works and works correctly. You're just wrong--and desperate, because fictional nerd cred, to not be wrong. It's an ugly look. Be better.

My mother doesn't have a smartphone. If she did, I would install it for her and be done with it.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#445

Post by baccheion »

adwn wrote: post #387
baccheion wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brilliant internals? Maybe (never checked). Worthless product that solves nothing? Definitely. Developing great systems or internals, then trying to find a use for them is one thing. Google Glass was a crap product without a purpose (from the beginning). That aside, Google doesn't know what to do with clever, ingenious, or well-Engineered systems/tools/libraries/components/etc. They'll wrap them in sh-t, then use the…

> Driverless cars? Is the driving of a car the real problem, or even a problem? Really?! You don't see the advantages of a self-driving car? What about taking a nap, reading, or watching a movie while you drive to work? What about having a couple of drinks and getting home safely? What about being dropped off in the middle of the city right at the front door, and your car looks for a parking spot, maybe 10 blocks awa…

> Really?! You don't see the advantages of a self-driving car?

I see advantages. My point is that they aren't enough to make the technology groundbreaking. The only thing left is the cool factor.

It would be cool to not have to worry about driving as much (it can be an annoyance), but only those who have to deal with major amounts of traffic or long commutes would really notice (and what they really want is something to shorten the commute, not make it more bearable). Even a long bus/train ride, though you're not driving, is still annoying, as it's potentially cutting hours out of the day.

> A self-driving car that handles traffic situations at least as well as a human is the holy grail of personal transport. You couldn't have picked a worse example.

No need for cars is the holy grail of personal transport. If you want to do something major in this regard, then invent teleportation or something. But wait-- that idea is too far out, eh, not practical enough?

> No, that is completely wrong. If it weren't, driverless cars would already fill the streets.

The technology has been in existence for at least 5-10 years. Many fine details (recognizing addresses, versus driving to a set location) maybe haven't been worked out, but the core of it has long been done.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#446

Post by andrewaylett »

user5994461 wrote: post #174
bad_user wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, actually Android is the most friendly mobile platform for ad-blockers, or other hacks. What you're complaining about is Chrome for Android, but then again Android is also the only mobile platform supported by a real Firefox implementation that has plugins, including ad-blockers. You're talking about rooting the phone, I guess you want /etc/hosts or something, but you know, even on the desktop that kind of solut…

Note: Firefox on android has only supported plugins since a few months ago.

I've been using plugins on Firefox on Android for a lot longer than that -- there might not be so many plugins, but many of the important ones were there.

For example, AdBlock Plus added mobile support in version 1.1.2, supporting Fennec 1.0 Beta 6, released 2009/12/12.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#447

Post by SisypheanLife »

jhayward wrote: post #408
Periodic wrote: post #11

So many companies try to emulate how Google works. There are multiple books, hundreds or thousands of articles. People speculate on the perks, the review structure, the hierarchy, the autonomy. However, when other companies try to imitate Google they always fail because they're missing a crucial piece: Billions of dollars in ad revenue Google doesn't work the way it does to be successful. It works that way because it…

> Google doesn't work the way it does to be successful. It works that way because it is successful. Correct, and commonly the case. There is a corollary as well - often the company (not commenting on G specifically) does not know precisely why they are/were a success, i.e. what very specific details were important vs other specific details that look important, but aren't. This lack of insight happens all the time and…

As someone at a google alternative, your second paragraph really hits home in nutshelling some experiences I have been through. It can feel dystopian when reality doesn't matter because the machine is big enough to keep turning on its own.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#448

Post by SXX »

jon-wood wrote: post #366
kohanz wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really true though? I remember when me and my engineering peers were in our teens, some of us dreamed of working for a gaming company, but now that we're older no one does. Most actually have a very negative perception of employment conditions in that industry.

My perception is that Valve are the exception to that rule. They've got the money on tap from Steam, meaning their game development side is more of a hobby than anything else, giving a lot of freedom to the teams working on new games. I could believe it's a bit less rosy working on new hats for their Avatar Dressup games.

Actually Valve no longer make these "hats". Most of items that included in content updates are created by the community.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#449

Post by MicroBerto »

dang wrote: post #434
MicroBerto wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is "you spew" namecalling? I was the one personally attacked in this thread, not the other way around. Just because my comment doesn't fit the Musk Worship narrative doesn't make me wrong. Was someone not killed by a malfunctioning / underprepared Tesla? What am I missing here????

"You spew" is a pejorative. Examples: https://twitter.com/search?q="you%20spew" https://www.google.com/webhp#q=site%3Atwitter.com%20%22you%2... What you're missing is that even though someone was uncivil to you on HN, you needed to remain civil in return. That's the social contract here, and we need it to prevent discourse from degenerating even further.

Given that there is no report button or ability to downvote someone that replies to you (at least not on mobile for me), it is only reasonable to defend myself in that situation.

The ensuing attacker went to my profile, researched me and my business, and personally attacked me because they disagreed with my sentiment.

What is my recourse for action in such a case? Take it on the chin like a wimp? I don't think so.

If you don't provide appropriate tools to stop a tit attack, then you are fostering an unfair and "unsafe" environment by banning tit-for-tat response.

You are turning this community into a one-way echo chamber.

Re: Google Makes So Much Money, It Never Had to Worry About Financial Discipline

#450

Post by mikelevins »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #118
Periodic wrote: post #11

So many companies try to emulate how Google works. There are multiple books, hundreds or thousands of articles. People speculate on the perks, the review structure, the hierarchy, the autonomy. However, when other companies try to imitate Google they always fail because they're missing a crucial piece: Billions of dollars in ad revenue Google doesn't work the way it does to be successful. It works that way because it…

This is exactly correct. If you have a printing press that is dumping a couple of billon dollars into the basement every quarter in spite of what you're spending, you have the luxury of trying all sorts of novel things from a business perspective. That said, the margins on the search advertising business are shrinking, and have been for years now. You can cover for that by eliminating profligate spending and then eve…

"the magic is gone"

I first went to work at Apple in January of 1988, at the end of the era that Woz described as making whatever they felt like and throwing it over the fence to ravening crowds who were throwing bales of money over the other direction.

Some time in the first few weeks I was there, my department head convened a staff meeting to explain that they were going to try a new concept that Apple had never tried before. "It's called a 'budget'," she said. "We try to guess ahead of time what our plans are going to actually cost."

At some point someone asked if that meant that regular meetings would no longer be catered. The answer was, "of course not. We have to have some way to get people to show up."

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