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Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

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501–510 of 637 posts

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#501
post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And now imagine a society in which it would not be decided by self-proclaimed "philantropists" where societal progress is made and which basic human needs (like a roof over the head of every person, or kids having a lunch at school instead of being shamed for parents too poor to pay) are met, but instead the super rich pay their fair share in taxes and society decides democratically. US billionaires are only philantr…

Sometimes I feel like (some, not all) billionaires are better stewards of money than the US government and people. How much of his wealth does Bill Gates spend on the military industrial complex?

And here's the thing, the billionaires depend on the military-industrial complex and police to keep their investments safe and growing... but at the same time, they are not contributing their fair share in taxes towards that goal, which means that the lower classes have to pay for it.

It's the same problem that Europe has with its defense - we have over decades relied on the US to keep us safe, without contributing our fair share.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#502
post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's very likely that they wanted you to question the ethics there. I don't know what your interview was like though. Googler, opinions are my own.

I don't think trying to select for an ethical core really works. Ultimately, you are either going to go along with the people around you or you are going to stick to some principles that aren't shared by everybody, and in the latter case, you're going to be unsuitable for the job, because you're not running the company. So looking for evidence of ethics in an interview is just looking for a smooth talking hypocrite,…

The point is about asking good questions and having a healthy debate not about arriving with a preconceived “ethical core.”

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#503

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing the “firewall” between Google and Google Health will prove to have been a big mistake. They should have stayed separate under Alphabet.

keeping it as separate entities meant that useful data could not be shared. Under one org, more data can be safely shared while respecting user privacy.

Except Google doesn't respect privacy.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#504

Weirdly this feels like a non-issue. Google has not felt like it has a "personality" for some time - maybe it's a function of hitting mega-corporate size, but it also feels a bit like when Microsoft (a Computer on every Desktop) essentially achieved its goal, it then spent a decade in "goalless and soulless exploitation" mode - something that one suspects is the next step for the worlds largest personality-free platf…

What ever happened to digitizing all of the world’s information? That still feels like at least a 100yr mission.

https://www.wired.com/2017/04/how-google-book-search-got-los...

They got sued, prevailed in court, but by then the 10 year battle sapped energy out of the project. With antitrust and other scrutiny, I doubt Google will attempt other massive forms of digitization that need it like academic journals. My personal opinion.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose it did push some readers' buttons, thus ipso facto is flamebait whether or not that was the intent. I did not find it snarky (hyperbole is not snark), and it seemed to me its intent was to explain the situation as the author saw it. Of course, now that it's flagged I can't even re read it to check if my initial impression was off.

You can read flagged/dead comments by turning on "showdead" on your profile/settings page.

False: you can't if you're browsing the site anonymously.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#506
post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YouTube and Gmail are massive social networks.

If you want to water down the definition beyond recognition then snail mail is a social network.

It's in the nature of social networks that new social networks don't look like old ones. Youtube is definitely a social network, and so is Twitch, Discord, TikTok, etc. Youtube has the additional advantage of having persistent count, so I would count on Youtube lasting much longer than any other social network whose popularity changes generation to generation.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this being downvoted? Now it's flagged. This is ridiculous.

Because it's an extremely dishonest take on a highly political issue.

> Because it's an extremely dishonest take on a highly political issue

It is also plausible.

Burying the head in the sand to avoid getting political is part of the problem, not of the solution.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#508

Weirdly this feels like a non-issue. Google has not felt like it has a "personality" for some time - maybe it's a function of hitting mega-corporate size, but it also feels a bit like when Microsoft (a Computer on every Desktop) essentially achieved its goal, it then spent a decade in "goalless and soulless exploitation" mode - something that one suspects is the next step for the worlds largest personality-free platf…

What makes you think they're retiring to sit on their asses all day and "spend their billions"? Maybe they have new and interesting things to do.

Lets just say I am hoping. I am clearly projecting my desires onto people I don't know and have never met, but at least it is a nice goal.

(yes of course they and I would get bored of a life of endless luxury - but I would like to at least try it and see how long I can hold out ;-)

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#509

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing the “firewall” between Google and Google Health will prove to have been a big mistake. They should have stayed separate under Alphabet.

keeping it as separate entities meant that useful data could not be shared. Under one org, more data can be safely shared while respecting user privacy.

I don't understand how being under Google vs being under Alphabet changes that.

They're still fundamentally one org sharing data with itself. If anything, I would think the company segregation would make it more complicated and difficult, wrt logistics, legality, and internal politics.

Re: Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet

#510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just giving you the straight dope on a few aspects of the organizational disaster that is google. The fact that you think it's incredible etc just shows what a basket case this company is.

If you want to give "straight dope" on a controversial issue, you don't do it by caricature without evidence. Instead you present incontrovertible evidence that proves your point.

Evidence wasn't hard to find though...

https://www.wired.com/story/the-dirty-war-over-diversity-ins...

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