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

businessinsider.co.za

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

#91

Post by vineyardmike »

amznthrowaway5 wrote: post #54
m0zg wrote: post #21

This is how it works: 1. Googler wants a promo. They know they need to "launch" to get promo. They can't get a promo if they just improve or maintain something that already exists. 2. Googler gets together with other googlers and puts together something they could launch. Nobody cares if it makes any sense. 3. The thing launches. Googler gets their promo. It is now pointless to spend any effort on maintaining somethi…

Well if Google tried rewarding maintenance work, would people who do hard maintenance work and reduce tech debt actually be rewarded? Instead I think the result would be people gaming the new system and doing nothing while claiming to solve hard maintenance problems. Managers, as usual, would reward the wrong people. At least with the current system, google gets something kinda measurable.

AWS found a way to reward the maintenance of amazons internal deployment infrastructure.

Apple and the yearly WWDC found a way to reward improving bugs and stability in operating systems (by labeling them as launches).

Hell, Microsoft provides huge lifespan guarantees ensuring that maintenance is a success metric.

You can totally incentive correct behavior.

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

#92

Post by netsharc »

reaperducer wrote: post #56

I still remember when Google promised to bring free wifi to all of the poor neighborhoods in Chicago. Amid a big frenzy of local media and politician hoopla it said was going to put access points on every streetlight. Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. So it just walked away.

Huh, they didn't have the motivation to add an 18-hour battery/UPS per light? Charge it while the light is powered, and discharge during the day..

Or, solar panels..

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

#93

Post by chilldsgn »

pixelpoet wrote: post #85
chilldsgn wrote: post #73

I suspect they're withdrawing due to infrastructure issues. We also have frequent power cuts (in my area it's up to 4 hours a day with no electricity) and loads of cable theft. Some of the cell towers even get shut down because people steal the hardware, the batteries that keep them operational. Heck, we've even had cases of people stealing fibre cables, because they thought they were worth more than copper. *I am a…

Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).

It's worse than ever. I am having a lot of trouble keeping to my deadlines for work and have to work around all the blackouts which frustratingly disrupts my life and thousands of other businesses. Just a couple more years until my degree is done, then I am GTFO of here.

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

#94

Post by happypants23 »

pixelpoet wrote: post #85
chilldsgn wrote: post #73

I suspect they're withdrawing due to infrastructure issues. We also have frequent power cuts (in my area it's up to 4 hours a day with no electricity) and loads of cable theft. Some of the cell towers even get shut down because people steal the hardware, the batteries that keep them operational. Heck, we've even had cases of people stealing fibre cables, because they thought they were worth more than copper. *I am a…

Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).

I'm a techie living in Cape Town and I love it. I have no plans to emigrate. We have problems down here yes, but they've been no impediment to my career.

Both Amazon AWS and Oracle OCI have satellite development offices in Cape Town, and if anything they are hiring more and more.

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

#95

Post by gerdesj »

odiroot wrote: post #89
numlock86 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. Uh? Duh! What did they expect? A switch in every street light? (Which also would need to be controlled in some way ...)

Streetlights in Berlin (at least on my street) are completely autonomous. It's a lot of fun to watch them start sequentially (with the light dimming down).

We have those too. One in a park near my house appears to have been programmed to perform a disco inferno sequence at twilight.

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

#96

Post by sumedh »

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.

> with no clear benefit to the bottom line.

I dont think they are doing it for the bottom line. Google also offers free wifi on many railway stations in India where lot of poor Indians get to use Internet for the first time.

It's good PR but also that automatically becomes a branding opportunity where lot of people think internet means google and creates a trust factor in the mind.

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

#97

Post by zapzupnz »

happypants23 wrote: post #94
pixelpoet wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eish, that's still going on? I'm half South African and grew up in SA but left in 2007, mainly because of the crime, but also the Telkom monopoly and rolling blackouts ("load shedding") were not so conducive to starting an internet business. It's kinda amazing to me that any techies stay there. Cape Town is beautiful yes, but so is New Zealand (where many Saffers such as my family emigrated to).

I'm a techie living in Cape Town and I love it. I have no plans to emigrate. We have problems down here yes, but they've been no impediment to my career. Both Amazon AWS and Oracle OCI have satellite development offices in Cape Town, and if anything they are hiring more and more.

Are they still having the rolling brown-outs in Cape Town? My hubby's family were getting a bit gatvol of those a while back, telling everybody here in New Zealand all about it.

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

#98

Post by zapzupnz »

WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #77
chilldsgn wrote: post #73

I suspect they're withdrawing due to infrastructure issues. We also have frequent power cuts (in my area it's up to 4 hours a day with no electricity) and loads of cable theft. Some of the cell towers even get shut down because people steal the hardware, the batteries that keep them operational. Heck, we've even had cases of people stealing fibre cables, because they thought they were worth more than copper. *I am a…

Unfortunately, this is the downward spiral of having bad actors. I kinda wish we lived in a world where communities could self-regulate and expel bad actors to let the ones who want to work together to achieve something can thrive.

When you see the inequality in South Africa, when even people working good jobs still get paid only in single digits (which in Rands comes to /nothing/), where things cost so damn much — you might have a slightly more sympathetic take on why people do what they do to survive.

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

#99

Post by [deleted] »

odiroot wrote: post #89
numlock86 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then Google found out that when the street lights turn off, there's no power to run the access points. Uh? Duh! What did they expect? A switch in every street light? (Which also would need to be controlled in some way ...)

Streetlights in Berlin (at least on my street) are completely autonomous. It's a lot of fun to watch them start sequentially (with the light dimming down).

[deleted]
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