Google ditches its free WiFi service in South Africa, three months after launch

Post by cma » Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 2:08 AM UTC

xeromal wrote: post #4

judge2020 wrote: post #2

"ditches" definitely not the word that should describe this (this is towards the article and not the HN submitter since it's the article's title); it could lead those who don't click to think it's another project Google has shut down. > “We are transferring our Station operations in South Africa to Think WiFi who will now carry out the project independently,” a spokesperson told Business Insider SA. > “We'll work wit…

If I hand my child over to someone else to raise forever, I'm ditching them. :p

Post by doggydogs94 » Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 2:18 AM UTC

qeternity wrote: post #9

wyxuan wrote: post #5

I don't really know why Google, a company, is doing what should be done by the government with no clear benefit to the bottom line. This is not to say they shouldn’t do this, but if you look at it that way, it shouldn't be surprising at all. If they really wanted to help they probably should have teamed up with the government to ensure that there is government buy in to the program.

More people using web -> more ad revenue for Google

Post by chii » Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 2:19 AM UTC

xeromal wrote: post #4

judge2020 wrote: post #2

"ditches" definitely not the word that should describe this (this is towards the article and not the HN submitter since it's the article's title); it could lead those who don't click to think it's another project Google has shut down. > “We are transferring our Station operations in South Africa to Think WiFi who will now carry out the project independently,” a spokesperson told Business Insider SA. > “We'll work wit…

If I hand my child over to someone else to raise forever, I'm ditching them. :p

Post by nothrabannosir » Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 2:20 AM UTC

qeternity wrote: post #9

wyxuan wrote: post #5

I don't really know why Google, a company, is doing what should be done by the government with no clear benefit to the bottom line. This is not to say they shouldn’t do this, but if you look at it that way, it shouldn't be surprising at all. If they really wanted to help they probably should have teamed up with the government to ensure that there is government buy in to the program.

More people using web -> more ad revenue for Google

Post by xeromal » Mon, Feb 17, 2020, 2:24 AM UTC

chii wrote: post #15

xeromal wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I hand my child over to someone else to raise forever, I'm ditching them. :p

bad analogy. There's no parent/child relationship between this service and google. As long as the service is continued, there's no issue as to who is owning and operating it. Using children makes it seem like google is providing essential operational expertise to keep the child alive, and the child would die if stopped.