Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

Steve Yegge is a widely respected programmer who is also a bit known for making big predictions about the future of tech and generally being (directionally) correct about them.

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#5

Post by stuffedBelly » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:02 PM UTC

> becoming "100% competitor-focused" and said the company "can no longer innovate."

I understand that from a nowadays developer perspective, innovation is held in high regard and rightfully so. However, NO ONE can innovate constantly and forever. A competition race such as the cloud pricing Google vs. Amazon he mentioned is actually a good thing for customers from a economic standpoint. At some point, all companies have to slow down innovation and focus more on competitions and it's not necessarily a bad thing. That usually means refining existing products, rethinking strategies, retiring things that do not work and expanding to a new market space with a "me too" product (a "me too" product is a common strategy to tread new territory with relatively low risk).

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#6

Post by QasimK » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:05 PM UTC

stuffedBelly wrote: post #5

> becoming "100% competitor-focused" and said the company "can no longer innovate." I understand that from a nowadays developer perspective, innovation is held in high regard and rightfully so. However, NO ONE can innovate constantly and forever. A competition race such as the cloud pricing Google vs. Amazon he mentioned is actually a good thing for customers from a economic standpoint. At some point, all companies h…

Surely large companies should be capable of having some people that are innovating while others are focusing on competition?

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#7

Post by chris_wot » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:08 PM UTC

I’m afraid his comments on not because my customer focussed enough jibe with my experience of Google.

Google has done great UX, but two examples of dreadful customer apps are Google Groups and the Google Admin interface. I have to daily make routine changes to accounts and Google Admin is so unbelievably slow that I curse it every time I have to login to it (which is incredibly frequently). The UI is slow, non-intuitive and confusing. And for a search company, it’s ability to search for Group addresses is appalling. And don’t get me started on Collaborative Inboxes...

Google has innovated in the past, but it seems there is no polish and no attempt at fully developing products. They aren’t terribly great for enterprise management, which is sad for me because they have so much potential.

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#8

Post by stuffedBelly » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:09 PM UTC

QasimK wrote: post #6

stuffedBelly wrote: post #5

> becoming "100% competitor-focused" and said the company "can no longer innovate." I understand that from a nowadays developer perspective, innovation is held in high regard and rightfully so. However, NO ONE can innovate constantly and forever. A competition race such as the cloud pricing Google vs. Amazon he mentioned is actually a good thing for customers from a economic standpoint. At some point, all companies h…

Surely large companies should be capable of having some people that are innovating while others are focusing on competition?

Agree. I just don't really buy his "100% competitor focused" statement. Isn't Google X and moonshot projects serve as Google's innovation hub?

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#9

Post by gvd » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:14 PM UTC

stuffedBelly wrote: post #5

> becoming "100% competitor-focused" and said the company "can no longer innovate." I understand that from a nowadays developer perspective, innovation is held in high regard and rightfully so. However, NO ONE can innovate constantly and forever. A competition race such as the cloud pricing Google vs. Amazon he mentioned is actually a good thing for customers from a economic standpoint. At some point, all companies h…

It's probably easier to innovate when you don't have the intellectual baggage Google has. You are more likely to think outside the box

Re: Steve Yegge Quits, Saying Google Is 100% Competitor Focused

#10

Post by bitexploder » Wed, Jan 24, 2018, 10:23 PM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #7

I’m afraid his comments on not because my customer focussed enough jibe with my experience of Google. Google has done great UX, but two examples of dreadful customer apps are Google Groups and the Google Admin interface. I have to daily make routine changes to accounts and Google Admin is so unbelievably slow that I curse it every time I have to login to it (which is incredibly frequently). The UI is slow, non-intuit…

Yes. Google admin is very opaque and docs seem to always be subtly or outright out of date. It is not fun.