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Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

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Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#61

Post by ertian »

pkos98 wrote: post #43
ertian wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did it ever really have vision? Honestly, Google kinda seems like it suffers from ADHD: it bounces from one shiny new project to another, quickly losing interest in anything that doesn't immediately take off. In the old days, that was enough: their little experiments really _did_ take off. Now, in a more crowded field, it takes more discipline and focus to get things off the ground...and discipline and focus are two…

Which of their own projects took off? E.g. Android and Maps were acquisitions IIRC. Maybe Google+?

Huh, I didn't know Maps was an acquisition! I've always had that chalked up in the 'internal project' category.

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#62

Post by Agingcoder »

ertian wrote: post #41
arnaudsm wrote: post #21

I bet they'll rehire like crazy in AR once the Apple Vision Pro is a success. I miss when Google had vision instead of trend following lazily

Did it ever really have vision? Honestly, Google kinda seems like it suffers from ADHD: it bounces from one shiny new project to another, quickly losing interest in anything that doesn't immediately take off. In the old days, that was enough: their little experiments really _did_ take off. Now, in a more crowded field, it takes more discipline and focus to get things off the ground...and discipline and focus are two…

I see their massive investments in AI as some kind of vision.

However, I don’t think they’ve been able to turn said money spending into more than research/demos ( deep mind included ) even pre-openAI ?

Edit : I understand they use it extensively internally, I meant for regular user facing products ( like openAI did with ChatGPT )

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#63

Post by Dalewyn »

pkos98 wrote: post #43
ertian wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did it ever really have vision? Honestly, Google kinda seems like it suffers from ADHD: it bounces from one shiny new project to another, quickly losing interest in anything that doesn't immediately take off. In the old days, that was enough: their little experiments really _did_ take off. Now, in a more crowded field, it takes more discipline and focus to get things off the ground...and discipline and focus are two…

Which of their own projects took off? E.g. Android and Maps were acquisitions IIRC. Maybe Google+?

Being a visionary does not mean you'll become a leader; more than likely you will be lucky if you're a footnote in history.

Microsoft had visions of smartphones and mobile ecosystems long before Apple or Google had them. They failed hard, which Apple and then Google took lessons from for their subsequent success.

Facebook, Sony, Valve and HTC all had visions of augmented and virtual realities. They all stagnafailed hard, which Apple is taking lessons from for their seeming success soon.

IBM had visions of personal computing long before Apple or Microsoft did. They failed hard, which both Microsoft and Apple took lessons from for their subsequent successes.

Being a visionary does not mean you'll become a leader, but you won't become a leader without a vision.

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#64

Post by mgh2 »

evilfred wrote: post #55

After hearing for years and years that Google hires for people first, and then assigns you a team, this is a big surprise! Somehow all the worst performers at Google ended up on the same teams and they had to fire them en masse? Or is Google just another tech company now?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38770151

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#65

Post by asadotzler »

granzymes wrote: post #19
bryanrasmussen wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one of google's working theories is they should hire people to keep them away from other organizations then it makes sense they don't fire until they see their competitors start.

I’m sure there are a handful of domain experts that Google would prefer to keep on staff even if they are working on pet projects, but Google is certainly not hiring thousands of extra engineers to keep them away from Microsoft and Meta.

Right. That was almost all about 18 years ago.

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#66

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

Google is no longer on Glassdoor's best places to work list.

Best Places to Work 2023:

    1. Gainsight
    2. Box
    3. Bain & Company
    4. McKinsey & Company
    5. NVIDIA
    6. MathWorks
    7. Boston Consulting Group
    8. Google
    9. ServiceNow
   10. In-N-Out Burger
Best Places to Work 2024:

    1. Bain & Company 
    2. NVIDIA 
    3. ServiceNow NOW 
    4. MathWorks 
    5. Procore Technologies 
    6. In-N-Out Burger 
    7. VMware VMW 
    8. Deltek 
    9. 2020 Companies 
   10. Fidelity Investments

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#68

Post by jzombie »

guiriduro wrote: post #59
xyst wrote: post #22

Useless C-level executives focusing on short term gains from RIFs rather than innovating. G is just a shadow of it’s former self. I can’t wait for the great G disruption

G disruption already arrived, with ChatGPT and Bing copilot, search now has a superior challenger/disruptor it has lacked for over a decade of G incumbency.

Yep. I personally use ChatGPT far more than Google search these days.

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#69

Post by arnaudsm »

Agingcoder wrote: post #62
ertian wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did it ever really have vision? Honestly, Google kinda seems like it suffers from ADHD: it bounces from one shiny new project to another, quickly losing interest in anything that doesn't immediately take off. In the old days, that was enough: their little experiments really _did_ take off. Now, in a more crowded field, it takes more discipline and focus to get things off the ground...and discipline and focus are two…

I see their massive investments in AI as some kind of vision. However, I don’t think they’ve been able to turn said money spending into more than research/demos ( deep mind included ) even pre-openAI ? Edit : I understand they use it extensively internally, I meant for regular user facing products ( like openAI did with ChatGPT )

Paying brilliant researchers then refusing to ship their work happened at Kodak, Xerox, and now Google. History repeats itself

Re: Google lays off hundreds in hardware, voice assistant teams

#70

Post by [deleted] »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #66

Google is no longer on Glassdoor's best places to work list. Best Places to Work 2023: 1. Gainsight 2. Box 3. Bain & Company 4. McKinsey & Company 5. NVIDIA 6. MathWorks 7. Boston Consulting Group 8. Google 9. ServiceNow 10. In-N-Out Burger Best Places to Work 2024: 1. Bain & Company 2. NVIDIA 3. ServiceNow NOW 4. MathWorks 5. Procore Technologies 6. In-N-Out Burger 7. VMware VMW 8. Deltek 9. 2020 Companies 10. Fidel…

[deleted]
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