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Mourning Google

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Re: Mourning Google

#231
post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This description actually makes me feel like the metaphor is more apt. The dinosaurs went down because they were large, complex lifeforms that required a vibrant, complex ecosystem to support them. Amidst a fundamental shift to that ecosystem, large complex organisms were the first to go down. This is a general pattern - complex systems are always the first to collapse when there's a shift in the ecosystem, because t…

you're saying that dinosaurs were a zero interest rate phenomenon? ok ok flippant but maybe not entirely flippant... I'm used to conceiving of fitness as in fitness for a niche. But I hadn't grasped the idea of "meta-fitness" being the ability to adapt to a highly dynamic niche. there must be a term in evolutionary theory for this.

Are you saying Big Tech was the primary beneficiary of free money? That doesn't seem as accurate as saying it is/was all ventures that couldn't be funded by revenues and profit, from the largest to smallest players.

Re: Mourning Google

#232

> “Ten blue links” · I remember the dismissive phase well: Ten blue links was boring, it was the past, it was not what people wanted. They want answers to their questions, complete and correct, so much more wholesome than an abbreviated sampling of the General Internet Uproar. And that was partly right: When I type in “-12C in F” or “population of vietnam” I just want a number. > But those Ten Blue Links surfaced by…

> There's a reason that kids use TikTok as search engine on mobile.

That's because kids are dumb and have no attention span to read anything.

Source: I am from the same generation you talk of.

Re: Mourning Google

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This description actually makes me feel like the metaphor is more apt. The dinosaurs went down because they were large, complex lifeforms that required a vibrant, complex ecosystem to support them. Amidst a fundamental shift to that ecosystem, large complex organisms were the first to go down. This is a general pattern - complex systems are always the first to collapse when there's a shift in the ecosystem, because t…

[flagged]

be sure to post again when you next emerge from you backyard bunker

Re: Mourning Google

#234

>It’s not that I think the companies are the problem, it’s the machineries and imperatives of Late Capitalism, which for a while we foolishly thought Internet companies could route around. A pseudo-communist critique of Google. >But those Ten Blue Links surfaced by the PageRank-that-was had a special magic. I found them intensely human, a reflection of the voices populating what remains of the Web, the only platform…

A nostalgia-driven critique of HN and of tech, delicious

Tim Bray has been shared on this site for the last seventeen years:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=11&prefix=false&q...

Re: Mourning Google

#235

> quickly got into a pattern of hiring and empowering psychotic pricks who were presumably “good at business” This seems to be the real challenge that I haven’t seen any company founder overcome. How do you keep these types of people out? It’s like one gets in, then they let all their friends in, then they overtake the company. The tech company offices I visited in 2010 were full of nerds—people who rode unicycles, j…

I think there is also another issue on top of that - once you establish yourself as a big money maker (a part of FAANG), a lot of tech people start treating a position there as a way to pad resume or make a ton of money. I am convinced it will shift the culture inside the company towards more corporate mindset.

Re: Mourning Google

#236
>"And now, in Anno Domini 2024, Google has lost its edge in search. There are plenty of things it can’t find. There are compelling alternatives."

I wished the author had elaborated on both of these points. Can people say what are the things that Google can't find? What do people consider the compelling alternatives in 2024?

Re: Mourning Google

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This description actually makes me feel like the metaphor is more apt. The dinosaurs went down because they were large, complex lifeforms that required a vibrant, complex ecosystem to support them. Amidst a fundamental shift to that ecosystem, large complex organisms were the first to go down. This is a general pattern - complex systems are always the first to collapse when there's a shift in the ecosystem, because t…

Large institutions have been "failing" for over a century, in most countries, similar to things in orbit being always "falling". Just go find old newspapers and you'll see similar wording. The constant criticism and renewal of our institutions is part of the system.

Well a century is hardly a long time unless someone think that 1987 was deadline or some such. And even during failing only few bemoan, large number of people adjust to new/worse reality.

Re: Mourning Google

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dinosaurs were doing great. They also were not slow or stumbling. They occupied every niche on the planet. The main reason most of them went extinct was a massive asteroid triggering the K–Pg extinction event (and even then birds are still around and doing just fine, thank you). The inability to avert or survive through an extinction level event literally proves that they are an evolutionary dead end. Extinction le…

Ironically, we only have that ability because the dinosaurs all died millions of years ago and we got to use their energy.

Two common mistakes regarding oil and gas:

1. it's not goopy, bubbling tar in giant cavernous pools 2. it's not dinosaurs, at least in the sense being discussed here

Re: Mourning Google

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dinosaurs were doing great. They also were not slow or stumbling. They occupied every niche on the planet. The main reason most of them went extinct was a massive asteroid triggering the K–Pg extinction event (and even then birds are still around and doing just fine, thank you). The inability to avert or survive through an extinction level event literally proves that they are an evolutionary dead end. Extinction le…

Ironically, we only have that ability because the dinosaurs all died millions of years ago and we got to use their energy.

I wouldn't go that far. Fossil fuels helped for sure, but we still had wood as a renewable resource that would have served until we discovered nuclear power.

Re: Mourning Google

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Dinosaurs were doing great. They also were not slow or stumbling. They occupied every niche on the planet. The main reason most of them went extinct was a massive asteroid triggering the K–Pg extinction event (and even then birds are still around and doing just fine, thank you). The inability to avert or survive through an extinction level event literally proves that they are an evolutionary dead end. Extinction le…

Ironically, we only have that ability because the dinosaurs all died millions of years ago and we got to use their energy.

Common misconception, fossil fuels didn't come from dinosaurs. Oil is mostly from aquatic phytoplankton and zooplankton, and coals are from plants.
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