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Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

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Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#131
post #87
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no other earth to sell copies of Office to. Very hard to have growth there.

By that metric, Slack, Jira etc are finished because they don't sell to alien civilizations. The number of employees that need Office 365 accounts is always going to be more than the number that need a Figma, Salesforce or chatGPT account.

From a stock perspective, yes.

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#132
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing that schools are teaching 'computational thought' and programming, but then I also hear that kids can't do math at anywhere near the expected level, can't read at their expected level, and have zero attention span. Either someone is lying or very wrong.

They’re probably different kids we’re talking about. My personal perception is that the gap of basic reading/math skills between the top 10% and the bottom 90% is widening. Why ? I’d say parental (real, no phone) presence in the kids life / education.

I'd say the modern obsession with dating your equal is having the unintended consequence of creating an academic elite

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supposedly Google only hires the best of the best. Now it appears they hired a lot of mediocrity? So much for their lauded hiring process.

I've posted previously that I knew someone that went to one of the most joke low level public schools around (CSU East Bay - I audited a few classes with them even), and they were so goofy you had to help the through understanding the movie plot of basic movies even. They were fun to hang out with, but honestly pretty goofy. They were also a bit lazy, never really learning much about their field. They were hired as a…

"Fun to hang out with" takes you further than you think. If the person is also attractive then he has a giant halo effect going for him

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#134
post #81

As I have been saying for a while Google, Amazon, Facebook, all these companies are on the decline. We have allowed them to become so big that they don't fall fast but it's very apparent that they would have been disrupted if they were normal sized like companies were in the past.

For FB/Meta the decline is very obvious on the technological side as well. Nothing really works properly on their platform. And I'm not talking about their basic user features - I'm talking about the features that make them money. Ad setup doesn't work, you are hitting random errors on setting up API calls, basic UX and non-functional pixel setups, some weird limits or even plain unresponsive pages. Just few days ago…

Facebook obviously did a great job in handling so much traffic but things have always been crap. Notifications on the Web and when they tried to get into mobile spring to mind.

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#135
post #132
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They’re probably different kids we’re talking about. My personal perception is that the gap of basic reading/math skills between the top 10% and the bottom 90% is widening. Why ? I’d say parental (real, no phone) presence in the kids life / education.

I'd say the modern obsession with dating your equal is having the unintended consequence of creating an academic elite

Did people back in the days date people that were far below their social group (economic and education wise)? I highly doubt it

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#136

I wonder what does this mean for the "Everyone can code" movement (bootcamps, initiatives within Google and the like, government funding). They keep saying that you can get a high paying job if you do a 9 month course. When the best of the field are getting laid off, I wonder how long will the "Everyone can code" movement survive

Recently the only people who have been saying that it’s easy to become a programmer in a few months are the ones selling you the way to get there.

> only people who have been saying that it’s easy to become a programmer in a few months are the ones selling you the way to get there

Hasn't this group of people always comprised like 90% of the Everyone Can Code group?

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#137
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've posted previously that I knew someone that went to one of the most joke low level public schools around (CSU East Bay - I audited a few classes with them even), and they were so goofy you had to help the through understanding the movie plot of basic movies even. They were fun to hang out with, but honestly pretty goofy. They were also a bit lazy, never really learning much about their field. They were hired as a…

"Fun to hang out with" takes you further than you think. If the person is also attractive then he has a giant halo effect going for him

It was a woman actually, so 10x that.

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#138
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say the modern obsession with dating your equal is having the unintended consequence of creating an academic elite

Did people back in the days date people that were far below their social group (economic and education wise)? I highly doubt it

You're right that it's not new. But now that women are getting tons of degrees for degrees sake, without even taking into account the school, it's creating pressure on men to do the same.

I have an BS in Mechanical Engineering from Berkeley, and I've had women from no name schools with a masters in marketing try to talk down my education.

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing that schools are teaching 'computational thought' and programming, but then I also hear that kids can't do math at anywhere near the expected level, can't read at their expected level, and have zero attention span. Either someone is lying or very wrong.

Anecdata but a lot of kids and young adults around me also seemingly struggle with use of a full computing environment; they’re much more used to something like iPad OS. I don’t really buy that the next generation is going to be more computer literate, I’ve been hearing that meme for a long time now and I just don’t see it.

My 17-year-old "zoomer" sister is unsure about what a browser is. She believes you need a Google app to access the internet. My millennial sisters aren't very proficient with computers. They mostly use Office and a browser. Things like VPNs might confuse them. Are my sisters a rare exception? Who knows? I know other female and male millennials with non-software developer jobs who barely know how to use a computer.

Yep, I tried to persuade my "zoomer" sister to learn how to program, but she declined. :( She is simply not interested.

Re: Tell HN: Google-Wide Layoffs

#140

As I have been saying for a while Google, Amazon, Facebook, all these companies are on the decline. We have allowed them to become so big that they don't fall fast but it's very apparent that they would have been disrupted if they were normal sized like companies were in the past.

> As I have been saying for a while

I mean this seriously:

Who are you (not name, but in terms of your significance in the community), and why does it matter what you've been saying for a while now?

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