Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#391

Post by lhnz » Wed, Aug 17, 2011, 10:22 AM UTC

ralfd wrote: post #288

tspiteri wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that Google's interpretation of "Don't be evil" is consistent with money making. They do it because they believe that in the long run, they will be more valuable if they are not "evil". Doing what is morally objectionable may lead to short term gains, but has a high maintenance cost. Not being evil is like having a clean sustainable system design; there is no need for kludges to hide the bad parts.

I am puzzled by this "Don't be evil" bullshit. How would be "killing HTC Sense" not evil? How is Google not evil in requiring real names for G+ and banning people with pseudonyms? How is shutting down APIs (like translation) which developers have grown to depend on not evil? How is monetizing their search monopoly to undercut the business of other companies not evil? Or shaping with their mystical page rank the fates…

Shutting down the translation API wasn't an evil act, it was being used by content farms to steal content from other publishers and get advertising from it.

Having a privacy policy which requires your real name isn't evil. You are not being forced to opt-in.

Is monetizing your core product really evil..? I didn't expect to read an anti-business comment on a site such as this...

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#392

Post by ldng » Sun, Aug 21, 2011, 12:39 PM UTC

pyrmont wrote: post #111

ldng wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it's not like it's an unknown situation. It's more like going back to Symbian licensing situation a few years back.

Yeah, that worked out great.

I think you misunderstood me. I was referring to Symbian in the 90s, at its popularity peak almost everyone was using a licensed Symbian. Not that I agree with the model but it once hasn't a reality of the mobile phone market.

As for the open sourcing and then reclosing of Symbian, it's another story. I wasn't talking about the Symbian of the past few years.

Re: Google Buys Motorola For $12.5 Billion

#393

Post by 18pfsmt » Wed, Aug 24, 2011, 5:32 PM UTC

kennethologist wrote: post #234

Motorola recently bought Symbol is this included in the acquisition? If so this is huge and I wonder what is Google's plans for the rest of the company outside of the phone division.

I realize this is an old converstaion, but, just so you know, Motorola bought Symbol about 5 years ago, but more recently, Motorola was split up into two companies: Motorola Solutions (B2B focused-> Symbol is a part of this business), and Motorola Mobility (more consumer focused). It is this second company that Google acquired. They are traded under the symbols MSI, and MMI, respectively.