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Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

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Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#31

Post by ergo98 »

jshen wrote: post #30
ergo98 wrote: post #21

Dvorak could legitimately be described as a professional troll. "you get over 20 pages of large thumbnails all on the same huge page....And because thousands of useless large thumbnails are loaded, a huge waste of user bandwidth takes place each time." Beware commenting on things you don't understand, because often it just makes you look like a fool. In this case, Dvorak apparently didn't notice that while all of the…

Beware splitting hairs when you are ignoring the main point. The new google image search is worse than the old one imo so dvorak's point stands even if he got a few technical details wrong. I also agree with him that it's a bad sign when a company seems to be doing things just because their competitors did something similar.

Beware splitting hairs when you are ignoring the main point

Splitting hairs?

These are the specific things that he complains about being wrong with the new version, and they're ignorant bullshit.

The new google image search is worse than the old one imo

I think the new image search is vastly improved. I doubt I'm alone. For the purpose of finding images it is much more efficient and usable, and if you want advanced searching, it's still there for your advanced searching needs.

But of course, we're just two people with subjective feelings. If Google changed it back, however, I wouldn't cry like a baby and pound my fists because it no longer specifically targets me and my personal usage needs.

It is human nature that whenever something changes the complainers tend to be the loudest. The fact that you don't personally like it, and Dvorak affirms your opinion, says absolutely nothing to whether it was a good move for Google or the average user.

Though I have no doubt that everyone with a gripe with Google's image search changes will we drawn into this discussion to add their "Rah rah yah yah!" I hope we're all wise enough to know how to judge that and to not overestimate the scope of that group.

It's also suspect to argue that they did it "just because their competitors are doing it". Could it be that the state of the art on the tubes is improving? Did Apple add multitasking to the iPhone just because Android did it, or because it's actually a good feature to have?

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#34

Post by castis »

Knowing nothing about the man. I only got through the first paragraph before I realized the man has no idea what he's talking about. I am not likely to listen to anything he says says ever again.

Edit: grammar;

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#35

Post by pyre »

qeorge wrote: post #29
grantheaslip wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible to be a good tech journalist without having coded something yourself (though that's not to say that Dvorak is a good journalist). Sure, it would probably be an asset, and a lack of technical context can make people write some stupid stuff, but not having built something does not automatically invalidate anyone's opinions. Most journalists have never worked in their fields, but nobody's complaining about…

Absolutely, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. But Dvorak seems particularly quick to call tech companies stupid, and I wonder if that's a result of not having been in the trenches himself.

He's infamous for making statements that will generate controversy^Wpage views.

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#36

Post by tingley »

ergo98 wrote: post #21

Dvorak could legitimately be described as a professional troll. "you get over 20 pages of large thumbnails all on the same huge page....And because thousands of useless large thumbnails are loaded, a huge waste of user bandwidth takes place each time." Beware commenting on things you don't understand, because often it just makes you look like a fool. In this case, Dvorak apparently didn't notice that while all of the…

Dvorak could legitimately be described as a professional troll.

Stopping right here to reminisce for a minute.

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a subscription to MacUser magazine, because I was glued to our old 512. I would read the issues cover to cover. (I have particularly vivid memories of the April 1987 issue, which unveiled the Mac SE, the original Mac II, and the release of Dark Castle.)

Dvorak had a column on the last page of the magazine. It was basically an Andy Rooney routine -- he was a grump who liked to complain about messed-up technology. One of the first of his columns I read (some time in 1986) was a rant about his experiences trying to play ICOM's "Deja Vu", a fairly innovative adventure game with a noir theme.

Dvorak claimed to be unable to master the interface (point-and-click!), and described in great detail his attempts to fumble through the first few rooms. I was 9, and I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read that involved a computer.

At some point he stopped writing the column, and I lost track of him until I was out of college and suddenly he was a notable tech pundit. That has always seemed strange to me.

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#37

Post by drats »

ergo98 wrote: post #21

Dvorak could legitimately be described as a professional troll. "you get over 20 pages of large thumbnails all on the same huge page....And because thousands of useless large thumbnails are loaded, a huge waste of user bandwidth takes place each time." Beware commenting on things you don't understand, because often it just makes you look like a fool. In this case, Dvorak apparently didn't notice that while all of the…

I got modded into a smouldering crater for pointing out that another article was a massive troll.[1] I think I was modded down for the fact that I enjoyed it: despite the fact I was highlighting it was a troll and that people shouldn't take it seriously. Almost everything in tech journalism these days consists of hyperbole or trolling to get maximum hits or, failing that, thinly reworded press releases and superficial reviews to minimize the actual effort required to publish. There are a few exceptions - namely things like the really in-depth SSD reviews conducted by Anandtech which actually had well constructed benchmarks, told you something new and really valuable and actually went and did interviews with major players - but these are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Bonus points: video of Dvorak admitting he trolls Apple users in his columns.[2]

[1]http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1877219

[2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMQv0j29WHA

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#38

Post by grantheaslip »

qeorge wrote: post #29
grantheaslip wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's possible to be a good tech journalist without having coded something yourself (though that's not to say that Dvorak is a good journalist). Sure, it would probably be an asset, and a lack of technical context can make people write some stupid stuff, but not having built something does not automatically invalidate anyone's opinions. Most journalists have never worked in their fields, but nobody's complaining about…

Absolutely, and I didn't mean to imply otherwise. But Dvorak seems particularly quick to call tech companies stupid, and I wonder if that's a result of not having been in the trenches himself.

He's pretty much made a career out of making inflammatory statements about companies whose fans get riled up easily. It's not a result of ignorance, it's a result of calculated attempts get hits on his articles (I think he's more-or-less admitted this multiple times). The obvious target has always been Apple, but Google (espcially Android) fanatics have been equally quick to get their backs up lately—maybe he's just diversifying.

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#39

Post by jamesaguilar »

jshen wrote: post #30
ergo98 wrote: post #21

Dvorak could legitimately be described as a professional troll. "you get over 20 pages of large thumbnails all on the same huge page....And because thousands of useless large thumbnails are loaded, a huge waste of user bandwidth takes place each time." Beware commenting on things you don't understand, because often it just makes you look like a fool. In this case, Dvorak apparently didn't notice that while all of the…

Beware splitting hairs when you are ignoring the main point. The new google image search is worse than the old one imo so dvorak's point stands even if he got a few technical details wrong. I also agree with him that it's a bad sign when a company seems to be doing things just because their competitors did something similar.

> The new google image search is worse than the old one imo so dvorak's point stands even if he got a few technical details wrong.

It may be worse for you, but it is better for almost everyone else. Dvorak is getting two things confused here: first, he assumes that because of his special uses cases that aren't supported as well, GIS is overall worse now. Second, he assumes that because a certain Google property is worse, the entire company is headed for doom.

Re: Google's Inevitable Ruin Begins

#40

Post by estel »

werthog wrote: post #7

JD;DR. See also: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-should-pull-the-plug-... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1923151,00.asp Has Dvorak ever been right about anything? (And no, he doesn't get credit for the keyboard layout, that was a different guy.)

In a list of great predictions of our time, "There is no likelihood that Apple can be successful in [the mobile phone] business" has to be right up there.
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