Calm down, all. We can be friends. Let's go down to the soda fountain and get ourselves some milkshakes.
With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
21–30 of 52 posts
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#22People aren't pissed at Google because of they are trying to get into other people's markets. Startups and developers are creeped out by of Google. Follow me: What is Google's product? Really, If you were to sell Google, what would you say it's product is? Think about it long and hard, and what you end up with (I believe) is the world's largest trove of personal data and information ever accumulated: email, voice pri…
Exactly. But the thing is, the Valley is just the newest crowd in that row. Activists of various kinds a creeped out by Googles data hording for a long time now. Even regular people opted out of StreetView. I am not saying all this paranoia is straight out justified in every respect, but the problem of Google in terms of personal rights etc is hardly a new one.
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#23Competition is ultimately good for users. As long as Google isn't using its size in a Microsoft-vs-Netscape capacity to compete unfairly and destroy innovation in a particular market, I think we should welcome this trend.
This is a very important point. With iPhone and Android neck & neck in the marketplace there's a tremendous incentive for both companies to make the best products they can and to make their users happy. Let's not forget how stagnant desktop computing became in the years of the Microsoft monopoly.
With iPhone and Android neck & neck in the marketplace there's a tremendous incentive for both companies to make the best products they can and to make their users happy. Let's not forget how stagnant desktop computing became in the years of the Microsoft monopoly.
I agree that that monopolistic era was especially pernicious. It wasn't just that Microsoft controlled a huge share of the desktop market; it was that this made them a de facto gatekeeper with regard to technology before the Web. Also, there were a lot of startups that couldn't get fair acquisition prices because there was only one buyer. The only good thing that comes out of monopolies is R&D (e.g. Bell Labs)... but I'd rather see R&D propelled by employee demands for autonomy (when there's lots of competition for talent) than by executive largess within a monopoly. One of the most exciting things to come out of Microsoft's research department is F#, and that emerged after the monopoly era was over.
Apple and Google both make excellent products, with completely different approaches but an end result that's great for users. Competition is good for products and also good for employees within companies (competition for talent).
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#24I wonder if this is another attack paid for by facebook (or Apple?)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43017686/Facebook_Admits_Secret_PR_Mo...
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#25Google done so much good in the world and people are pissed off for google butting into their market and taking away their money.
What good has google really done?
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#26This article is basically judging Google for competing against market leaders.
By the tone of this article, it would seem the author (MG Siegler) prefers instead that a monopoly exists in every sector of the market and that the companies are all buddy-buddy with one another.
Fuck everything about that.
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#27People aren't pissed at Google because of they are trying to get into other people's markets. Startups and developers are creeped out by of Google. Follow me: What is Google's product? Really, If you were to sell Google, what would you say it's product is? Think about it long and hard, and what you end up with (I believe) is the world's largest trove of personal data and information ever accumulated: email, voice pri…
Put on your tin foil hats.
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#28People aren't pissed at Google because of they are trying to get into other people's markets. Startups and developers are creeped out by of Google. Follow me: What is Google's product? Really, If you were to sell Google, what would you say it's product is? Think about it long and hard, and what you end up with (I believe) is the world's largest trove of personal data and information ever accumulated: email, voice pri…
Give me a break. > And, Google's secrecy and self-isolation erodes trust. Many, if not most, tech companies are much more secretive than Google (Apple?). From the few times I've read Google's blogs, I thought they were quite transparent and open. > the current interpretation of Delaware corporate law states that a corporation must maximize shareholder value. That would make a great tagline for a dystopian Hollywood f…
Many, if not most, tech companies are much more secretive than Google (Apple?). From the few times I've read Google's blogs, I thought they were quite transparent and open.
Ummm.... I'm talking from the perspective of hosting the largest networking group of tech founders in Silicon Valley for the last 4 years. We've held meetups of 150+ people 4 miles away from the Googleplex every month for several years now.
How many Google engineers have I talked to at our meetups in the last 12 months? 2 or 3. I've also talked to a ton of other young startups around the Valley.
What I'm saying is based on that experience. I don't know where you're located, or what your experience is with Google aside from "the few times I've read Google's blogs". Your mileage of course may vary.
That would make a great tagline for a dystopian Hollywood film.
Perhaps. But, I'm also basing this on a number of conversations with quite expensive lawyers in and around Silicon Valley. The fact of the matter in US corporate law, is that C Corporations have to maximize shareholder value, and act in the best interests of their shareholders. When a corporation doesn't do that, the directors of that corporation open themselves to being sued for breach of fiduciary duty.
There is a good reason why Google takes good care of your data and won't sell it to evil governments or corporations: they would go out of business if they did so.
Or, they could quietly, privately maximize that data by looking up personal data on founders of startups that are being potentially acquired by Google. They'd be quite silly not to, actually.
They could certainly look up for a history of searches coming from a competitor's IP addresses to see what they are planning.
They could certainly look up a potential employee's search history, calendar history (to check for other scheduled interviews), email contents, GPS location data from their Android phones when they are screening job candidates.
I'm saying this from the perspective of having built an alpha of a search engine for financial news. And, I know that I was certainly interested in every single search that was referred from an IP address located in Manhattan. And if a lot of queries came in for a topic that I didn't have much data for in my index, I quickly went out and found sources of information to pad my index with.
It's not a criticism of corporate secrecy and capitalism. It's the essence of capitalism.
If Google doesn't use that data for it's own corporate advantage it's stupid. I've never heard of anyone call Google stupid. And, that's exactly what I would do if I had access to that kind of data. Couple that with some tight NDA's and no one would ever know.
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#29I have always wondered about the bad blood between MGS and the TC community. Now I know why. How this passes off as journalism is beyond me.
EDIT: rephrasing of final line.
Re: With Google, There Will Be Bad Blood
#30Am I the only one feeling like some people are trying way too hard to influence others on how they perceive Google? It seems to all have happened at the same time too. I don't have any proof, but it does smell a bit like an astroturf campaign (I'm not referring to this TC article, but mostly to comments I've seen here and elsewhere).
You are right, it gets suspiciously much these days.
In Germany, some days ago, came out that Microsoft paid for an Anti-Google article in a Newspaper. I can search for a link (in German) if somebody wants proof.