Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Don't let Google take over Berlin

fuckoffgoogle.de

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 120 posts

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#101

Post by solarkraft »

muehlbau wrote: post #89

I'm from Munich where Google opened their first engineering office in Germany and continuously expanded their presence ever since. I don't see that Munich and the area were transformed by this as described here. However, Munich is a very different city than Berlin. I can see why it might be tempting for a big tech company to open an office or campus in Kreuzberg, because it represents a certain style, but personally,…

I would see Munich as very expensive already. The Berliners are probably afraid of this happening to them.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#102

Post by legulere »

m90 wrote: post #27

Just like people repeatedly breaking the windows of a coffee shop nearby because the owners are "bankers from London" (this was stated as the #1 selling point for boycot in a flyer) this entire movement exposes the worst Kreuzberg has to offer: an incredibly self-righteous xenophobia. People think they are so incredibly open minded when they are pro refugees, but as soon as it's the "wrong kind of Ausländer" (the one…

Well it is a form of a fortified society. Google is a threat in form of displacement of the people there by financial means. Invulnerability of ones home is a constitutional right regardless of if you’re an owner or just a renter.

You must not be accepting to those that destroy your society: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#104

Post by m90 »

forapurpose wrote: post #93
m90 wrote: post #27

Just like people repeatedly breaking the windows of a coffee shop nearby because the owners are "bankers from London" (this was stated as the #1 selling point for boycot in a flyer) this entire movement exposes the worst Kreuzberg has to offer: an incredibly self-righteous xenophobia. People think they are so incredibly open minded when they are pro refugees, but as soon as it's the "wrong kind of Ausländer" (the one…

I don't know much about this movement, but Google employees are not at all comparable to refugees; that's not a valid comparison.

In the end they're all people I'd argue.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#106

Post by originalsimba »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #76
alexryan wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be missing the bigger picture. 5 years ago these views would not have found any traction because nearly everyone loved Google. The general level of hatred in the community towards Google has increased significantly in that time. In my estimation this is due entirely to Google's own behavior since Sundar Pichai became CEO. When your CEO has an inability to resolve conflict in the direction of positiv…

I honestly doubt that any other CEO would have made any difference. Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining as much as possible about their users, and what's changed in the past couple years is (a) a much greater awareness of the potential negative consequences of this data collection and (b) the sense that the American internet giants are becoming unstoppable juggernauts. The hate against Googl…

> I honestly doubt that any other CEO would have made any difference.

Look at the huge difference made when the Walt Disney Corporation fired disgraced CEO Michael Eisner. They were having serious problems dealing with the new media markets, such as suing their fans, and many considered them one of the worst corporations in the world in terms of their contributions. The internet was flooded with the Cease and Desists from Disney's legal department which became an industrial threat-machine.

Now it's 180 degrees different. Disney doesn't sue their fans anymore, they've got a healthy approach to online media, they don't even shut down most youtube fan-pages anymore. Public opinion of the Walt Disney Corporation is once again positive, their movies are once again original and interesting, and once again they're making a ton of money. All of this is the direct result of replacing their rotten-to-the-core CEO.

The CEO is important, even when they don't seem so.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#107

Post by m90 »

pgeorgi wrote: post #98
m90 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if you live in the area (I only work there), but this is a recurring pattern that has happened quite a few times over the last years, not only to Google. Everything that is a. wealthy and b. from abroad will receive instant hatred. I talked to a few of these people and unfortunately it's only a very short way to conspiracy theories and open antisemitism surfacing. If you show up being German and wealthy,…

> If you show up being German and wealthy, treatment will be way different unfortunately. Try being wealthy while Swabian in Berlin.

They might hate you for the money, but you won't be dragged into the depths of paranoid conspiracy theories about "wall street" taking over. Which, to me, makes a huge difference.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#108

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #76
alexryan wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be missing the bigger picture. 5 years ago these views would not have found any traction because nearly everyone loved Google. The general level of hatred in the community towards Google has increased significantly in that time. In my estimation this is due entirely to Google's own behavior since Sundar Pichai became CEO. When your CEO has an inability to resolve conflict in the direction of positiv…

I honestly doubt that any other CEO would have made any difference. Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining as much as possible about their users, and what's changed in the past couple years is (a) a much greater awareness of the potential negative consequences of this data collection and (b) the sense that the American internet giants are becoming unstoppable juggernauts. The hate against Googl…

> Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining

You see, the point is, it doesn’t have to be.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#109

Post by alexryan »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #76
alexryan wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be missing the bigger picture. 5 years ago these views would not have found any traction because nearly everyone loved Google. The general level of hatred in the community towards Google has increased significantly in that time. In my estimation this is due entirely to Google's own behavior since Sundar Pichai became CEO. When your CEO has an inability to resolve conflict in the direction of positiv…

I honestly doubt that any other CEO would have made any difference. Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining as much as possible about their users, and what's changed in the past couple years is (a) a much greater awareness of the potential negative consequences of this data collection and (b) the sense that the American internet giants are becoming unstoppable juggernauts. The hate against Googl…

There is truth to this. I would suggest, however, that it is at least theoretically possible to maintain good will and strong relationships with the community, even as your power grows, so long as the bonds of trust are rock solid. The most effective way I know to do that is to refuse to contribute to the polarization and by always choosing to be on the side of the win-win solution.

By firing James Damore, by allowing YouTube videos to be demonetized for holding the wrong opinions, etc. Sundar Pichai has destroyed the bonds of trust. It takes backbone to stand up to the ideologically possessed who are determined to play the zero sum game and to persuade them that their needs can be more sustainably met by other means. Sundar Pichai has no backbone! Nobody has any respect for a weak leader who habitually chooses the easiest path without regard to the long term consequences.

Re: Don't let Google take over Berlin

#110

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #108
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I honestly doubt that any other CEO would have made any difference. Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining as much as possible about their users, and what's changed in the past couple years is (a) a much greater awareness of the potential negative consequences of this data collection and (b) the sense that the American internet giants are becoming unstoppable juggernauts. The hate against Googl…

> Google's business model is fundamentally based on data mining You see, the point is, it doesn’t have to be.

Not without being a completely different company. Google earns 90 percent of its revenue from advertising, and the amount they would be able to earn would go down significantly if they weren't able to provide highly granular targeting info to their advertisers.

Saying "the point is, it doesn't have to be" is like saying "Apple doesn't have to be a designed-focused company." True, they don't have to be, but they are, and that is a huge reason they are successful.

Post reply on HN