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1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

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Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#31
post #24
post #17

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If we compare whether Facebook or Google can be more easily replaced I could argue that Google has a higher chance of being replaced because some startup can come along and build a better search engine for less than 1% of what it cost Google. Whereas I don't see Diaspora really being much different than a Jabber protocol with social networking features. Jabber didn't kill any instant messager protocol, it just furthe…

Google will be replaced but not by search engine like better Google . There will something completely new, like visible now in mass personal computing shift from desktop (Windows) to mobile (it looks like the Android is next main OS). The great question is what will push Google into oblivion.

Seems like Google's continued ability to dominate will hinge upon whether web browsers remain the dominant mode of navigating the internet, right? Future could be a bit tricky for them, then...

More and more internet activity is taking place in 'closed-wall' communities like apps and Facebook that Google Search can't touch (and, hence, can't monetize) for the most part. This trend is gaining real traction as it seems well equipped to satisfy folks' demand for better, more relevant filters. The power of social networking to help build and refine such filters is pretty telling... just think about how much of your 'news' you get off your Twitter or Facebook feed.

Unless Google figures out a way to penetrate closed-wall communities (via strategic partnerships, licensing of some sort or whatever) or innovate some super useful product that brings in revenue on the scale of AdWords (GoogleMe?), we'll probably see a piecemeal dethroning happen.

This is probably one of several reasons why smart people are migrating from Google to Facebook.

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#32
post #20
post #19

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So it takes a year to go from zero to a position of global dominance?

If that's all you got from that sentence, I'm terribly, terribly sorry.

mfukar, I think you have been unjustly burried with the downvotes there, but I really wish you would come back with an explanation.

Did you mean that in 20 years, technology would progress so rapidly that change will be near instantaneous?

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#33
post #32
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that's all you got from that sentence, I'm terribly, terribly sorry.

mfukar, I think you have been unjustly burried with the downvotes there, but I really wish you would come back with an explanation. Did you mean that in 20 years, technology would progress so rapidly that change will be near instantaneous?

I meant that even today, it's near impossible to predict the state of the economy next week, let alone in 20 years.

We're also talking about a completely different society, like most societies changed from the '60s to the '80s and so forth. Different needs, different priorities, different state of affairs in a global level.

Take Google, for instance. Google first offered a useful product on 1998. Turned a profit first in 2001 ($105 mil). Its IPO took place in 2004 ($23 bn, wasn't it?). Even if one were so dense as to deny the upcoming global dominance of Google (at least in online search) back in 2000, those timeframes are so off the 20 year mark it's not even funny.

And yes, of course I expect progress (regardless of scale) in the future to take place a lot faster. We've already seen trends spread overnight. Who says someone won't be able to capitalize on such internet behaviour? Even if I'm too irrelevant to tell, I seriously doubt there won't be someone in 20 years' time.

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#34
post #15

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One way of looking at it: Facebook has changed the way people communicate and socialize with each other. I think in some ways that is more fundamental than what Google has done - change the way people search. Furthermore, Google has seemed to have trouble innovating in the past couple years, but Facebook has been accelerating the pace of its innovations.

FaceBook is 6 years old and has roughly 2000 employees. Google was 6 years old and had roughly 2000 employees in 2004. Does anyone remember what Google introduced in 2004 and early 2005, and how revolutionary they seemed at the time? GMail, Orkut, Local, Books, Scholar, Maps, and Code ring a bell? There seems to be an inflection point in just about every major tech company's history. First they have to dominate their…

Ok, so does that mean you'd rather work at Google instead of Facebook? Right now, Facebook is doing stuff that is more interesting for programmers I suspect.

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#35
post #34

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FaceBook is 6 years old and has roughly 2000 employees. Google was 6 years old and had roughly 2000 employees in 2004. Does anyone remember what Google introduced in 2004 and early 2005, and how revolutionary they seemed at the time? GMail, Orkut, Local, Books, Scholar, Maps, and Code ring a bell? There seems to be an inflection point in just about every major tech company's history. First they have to dominate their…

Ok, so does that mean you'd rather work at Google instead of Facebook? Right now, Facebook is doing stuff that is more interesting for programmers I suspect.

Considering that I do work for Google and have been contacted in the past by FaceBook recruiters - yes, I'd rather work for Google. FaceBook has some cool technology, but so does Google, and I'm more excited about Google's overall mission.

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#36
post #33
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

mfukar, I think you have been unjustly burried with the downvotes there, but I really wish you would come back with an explanation. Did you mean that in 20 years, technology would progress so rapidly that change will be near instantaneous?

I meant that even today, it's near impossible to predict the state of the economy next week, let alone in 20 years. We're also talking about a completely different society, like most societies changed from the '60s to the '80s and so forth. Different needs, different priorities, different state of affairs in a global level. Take Google, for instance. Google first offered a useful product on 1998. Turned a profit firs…

Woah, I think I like you better when you're wordy and spell everything out.

Thanks for the exposition!

Re: 1 in 5 Facebook Employees Worked at Google

#37
post #30
post #26

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Just because you join a company pre-IPO doesn't mean that you automatically get rich. If Google employees are really jumping ship for Facebook IPO riches, then I sincerely hope they've been given truckloads of stock units, because joining as employee 1200-whatever at Facebook means that there isn't much upside left in the share values. In particular, if you start at Facebook today, the stock units you get are being s…

you don't have to get rich for it to be worthwhile. i joined a company a year before its IPO, got a modest number of shares, and it amounted to a nice little bonus every month. didn't make me rich but allowed me to build up a lot of savings while paying down my mortgage. it's totally worth trying to get into that situation if the option is available.

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