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Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

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Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#321

Post by xg15 »

joshuamorton wrote: post #295
xg15 wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a lot of the time they seem to be under the impression that either Google's privacy policy is different than it actually is, or that Google's privacy policy isn't actually something that Google follows, or that it doesn't protect them from something for some reason. Sorry, last year we've seen how several large car makers have had systematically undermined environmental regulations for years. That does not exactly…

So just to clarify, because a different company, in a different industry, did something illegal that had nothing to do with privacy, you don't trust privacy policies?

Yes, pretty much this.

That scandal has shown that self-policing doesn't work if all the incentives point into the opposite direction. I don't see what significant differences at Google would make them immune to the forces that were at work at VW.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#322

Post by [deleted] »

slice_of_life wrote: post #320
dandelion_lover wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Point is, if he can do it, anyone in the world can do it and people should just stop complaining. https://xkcd.com/1827/ via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14163589

May be. But it's better to be hopeful when that's all you have. Stay positive always. EDIT: Goes back to the pragmatism I alluded to earlier. We can choose to either rely on chance or hard-work/self reliance. I choose the latter. And yes, most times it is mutually exclusive. It seems I can't win with you. Before I disclosed my location, it was implied that I couldn't understand because I probably hadn't been through…

[deleted]

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#323

Post by dandelion_lover »

slice_of_life wrote: post #320
dandelion_lover wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Point is, if he can do it, anyone in the world can do it and people should just stop complaining. https://xkcd.com/1827/ via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14163589

May be. But it's better to be hopeful when that's all you have. Stay positive always. EDIT: Goes back to the pragmatism I alluded to earlier. We can choose to either rely on chance or hard-work/self reliance. I choose the latter. And yes, most times it is mutually exclusive. It seems I can't win with you. Before I disclosed my location, it was implied that I couldn't understand because I probably hadn't been through…

First, I am not the person you have been discussing with. I only responded to your concrete sentence which is in my view incorrect.

>But it's better to be hopeful when that's all you have. Stay positive always.

>We can choose to either rely on chance or hard-work/self reliance.

In this wording, I totally agree and am following the same path myself. However, it does not mean that everyone who follows it will be successful, or that we do not need to improve our system to increase the chances. There are definitely billions of hard-working people who deserve a better life but do not get it.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#324

Post by slice_of_life »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #104
jondubois wrote: post #14

I agree they should be regulated. The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. These big companies turn regular people into corporate livestock to serve the wealthy. If you were to analyze Facebook as if it were a country, the wealth gap among employees would be atrocious - The top 1% would own maybe 99% of the wealth of the country and everyone else would earn a minuscule fraction of the total value t…

Disclaimer: I work at Google > The world is a better place with lots of smaller companies. [citation needed] A lot of things Google does -- a lot of the things people actually like about Google -- are possible only because it's a huge monolith. Divorce the ad-making money machine, and say goodbye to all the services consumers like that are nowhere near as profitable: gmail, maps, photos, chrome, android, translate, y…

> A lot of things Google does -- a lot of the things people actually like about Google -- are possible only because it's a huge monolith. Divorce the ad-making money machine, and say goodbye to all the services consumers like that are nowhere near as profitable: gmail, maps, photos, chrome, android, translate, youtube, drive, waze, where do you think the money for this stuff all comes from?

Yes indeed. So eloquently said. You can't have one without the other. With scale comes unprecedented ability that cannot be attained any other way.

I'm a huge supporter of google and what you've accomplished in such a short time. Do not feel discouraged with some of the negative feedback. Kudos to you and keep up the good work. What you're doing is truly impactful. I as well as a billion other users enjoy your products immensely.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#325

Post by codefined »

nine_k wrote: post #176
codefined wrote: post #2

It does concern me when people say that the internet should be unregulated, especially given the recent vote in the US and the likely upcoming votes in the UK. Monopolies are very easy to form on the internet, and in the interest of improving everyone's use, we need to try to avoid them. Walled gardens currently trap people into one service and limit the ability to swap between them, similar to "forcing" you to use j…

China, Turkey, Russia, etc control the way the internet is seen by their populaces. Would you enjoy your internet being controlled the same way?

I'm talking about regulation, not control.

Companies are regulated already to stop monopolies and we're not living in North Korea.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#326

Post by h1d »

dandelion_lover wrote: post #317
h1d wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even funny to compare the quality of Google maps to anything else.

I disagree. I am using openstreetmap for everything and did not have any problems whatsoever. Of course, it depends on the location. In Europe the coverage is almost perfect.

Coverage is one but it's missing street view, fly-by view, satellite view, navigator and floor by floor building map.

In my Japanese urban region, the building where I live which has been there for 8 years is a flat land in openstreetmap including other neighboring buildings.

Apple's map is better but it's still far behind Google's.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#327

Post by devuo »

anigbrowl wrote: post #306
devuo wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be fair, we're no longer living in the 60's, and as we all know the impetus to reach "the stars" was driven by as much as national pride as well as show of force and muscle flexing to the rest of the world. I concur that the state has been massively important in terms of research and investment from the 50's to the 90's that enabled most of what we're enjoying today, but if the past 10-20 years are anything to go by,…

No. Previous post articulated a general principle which I showed to be flawed. 'Things are different now' is just moving the goalposts.

As the author of said post I disagree. Given that the original post to which I commented refers to Amazon, Google and others — entities born in mid to late 90s operating to this day — any analisys of state action vs these corporations must be done within the context of this timeframe and not before.

In regards to "moving goal posts", I have not, and will not ever do such a thing, as to me a debate is not about winning anything, but clarifying points of view. If I wanted to move your own "goal posts" I would point you back 200-100 years, and talk about the Industrial Revolution, Railroad construction in the US, Telegraphs and Phones, invention of flight, among many others all but initially driven, built and financed by private money.

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#328

Post by camillomiller »

friedman23 wrote: post #138
camillomiller wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They push society forward along THEIR agenda. That agenda can be the most open, inclusive and diverse agenda ever, but it's gonna be the agenda of a corporation nonetheless. In my ideal world, you know who should be in charge of such a push? American friends, please, breathe deeply: The State should.

> The State should. I'm looking forward to living in Trumpland. When do we start gilding everything? Breathe deeply, provide evidence that the state dictating what should and shouldn't be produced has ever resulted in a better overall outcome for society than using the market.

Government /= State

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#329

Post by camillomiller »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #115
camillomiller wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They push society forward along THEIR agenda. That agenda can be the most open, inclusive and diverse agenda ever, but it's gonna be the agenda of a corporation nonetheless. In my ideal world, you know who should be in charge of such a push? American friends, please, breathe deeply: The State should.

I'm largely a social democrat, but LOL if you think the government would be even a quarter as competent as Google at pushing technology forward. Just read any description from people who've worked at both normal government IT shops (really anywhere that's not 18F or the USDS) and private industry how they feel about governmental technology culture and processes. Like okay, investing in infrastructure, like putting fi…

I'm largely a X, but I will now proceed to say something that is totally the opposite of what X stands for.

:)

Re: Are Google, Amazon and others getting too big?

#330

Post by camillomiller »

kuschku wrote: post #209
TulliusCicero wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm largely a social democrat, but LOL if you think the government would be even a quarter as competent as Google at pushing technology forward. Just read any description from people who've worked at both normal government IT shops (really anywhere that's not 18F or the USDS) and private industry how they feel about governmental technology culture and processes. Like okay, investing in infrastructure, like putting fi…

> I'm largely a social democrat, but LOL if you think the government would be even a quarter as competent as Google at pushing technology forward. > Just read any description from people who've worked at both normal government IT shops (really anywhere that's not 18F or the USDS) and private industry how they feel about governmental technology culture and processes. The governments brought us MP3. (Fraunhofer is fund…

This. But of course US Americans (including foreigners living there long enough) will just interpret the World according to the usual equation: US == World. It's not your fault guys and we love you the way you're wired, but for god's sake, could you sometimes consider there's some form of Intelligent Life outside of your borders?
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