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Susan Wojcicki has died

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Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#121

Post by briandear »

TMWNN wrote: post #102
lchengify wrote: post #73

Was shocked to hear this news. I worked for Google years ago but I was in the NYC office, so we didn't run into the YouTube folks much. Opinions about YouTube may be mixed here on HN, but it is objectively one of the most successful businesses in tech or media to emerge in the past 15 years. If it weren't buried inside Alphabet, Youtube would be worth on the order of $400 billion, more than Disney and Comcast combine…

>Opinions about YouTube may be mixed here on HN Who? Who has a negative opinion about YouTube? The occasional "My kids watch too much of it" != "mixed opinions" about the site in general.

Government-coordinated censorship during Covid. That’s my negative opinion.

Covid vax concerns were allowed during the last months of the Trump administration, but it suddenly became censored after Biden was elected.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#122

Post by abraxas »

jedberg wrote: post #97
abraxas wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Certain other countries in that chart have longer average lifespans than the US, eg. Canada, Germany, Australia etc.

Health outcomes in the US are bimodal -- the wealthy have the best health care in the world, and the longest lifespans. The poor basically have the equivalent of 3rd world care. That makes the average come out to less than other countries with universal healthcare. But it also explains why wealthy people are against universal care in the US -- because they believe their level of care will go down so that everyone els…

Cancer _incidence_ is likely only loosely related to the healthcare system. Cancer _outcomes_ probably are but incidence is more related to lifestyle choices (active vs sedentary, smoking vs non-smoking etc)

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#123

Post by pavlov »

TMWNN wrote: post #102
lchengify wrote: post #73

Was shocked to hear this news. I worked for Google years ago but I was in the NYC office, so we didn't run into the YouTube folks much. Opinions about YouTube may be mixed here on HN, but it is objectively one of the most successful businesses in tech or media to emerge in the past 15 years. If it weren't buried inside Alphabet, Youtube would be worth on the order of $400 billion, more than Disney and Comcast combine…

>Opinions about YouTube may be mixed here on HN Who? Who has a negative opinion about YouTube? The occasional "My kids watch too much of it" != "mixed opinions" about the site in general.

YouTube’s algorithm feeds increasingly radicalizing content to young people. It makes celebrities of people like Andrew Tate and is a primary enabler of fringe belief bubbles.

Any time someone posts a YouTube link to a political discussion, it’s guaranteed to be the worst nonsense that pries on people who “do their own research.” (No matter if they’re left or right on the political spectrum, there’s endless junk on YouTube for both.)

There’s surely good stuff on YouTube, but as a parent I honestly wouldn’t miss it if it disappeared overnight.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#124

Post by cowsup »

tomohelix wrote: post #58
daveed wrote: post #49

I'm not a Googler, but would still ask commenters to show some respect for the person who died, and save your opinions about youtube for another day.

Maybe I am a callous person, but I have never agreed to this "don't speak ill of the dead" thing. People live and die. It is inevitable. To the grieving family, I can understand why refraining from insulting the dearly departed is necessary. They are grieving and can be irrational. No need to make things worse for them. But between unrelated people? Why can't I discuss the legacy of the dead? We are defined by our de…

I feel like there's an unwritten "recently" in there. If you were to speak ill of Colonel Sanders, nobody would berate you for speaking ill of the dead. But when a CEO like Wojcicki, who made changes that were unpopular to the end-users (but helped turn YouTube into an actual profitable company) dies, it's considered very impolite to use that opportunity to bad-mouth decisions she made. When her son died earlier this year, that would've been a bad time to speak ill of her, as well, even though she herself was still alive.

A better phrase may be "Don't say things that will hurt the feelings of those who are grieving," but that doesn't roll off the tongue so easily.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#125

Post by xanderlewis »

TMWNN wrote: post #109
xanderlewis wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of YouTubers have been very critical of YouTube’s approach to things and treatment of creators in the past. Also, just as an example, YouTube demonetises (and therefore effectively punishes) you for using words like ‘suicide’ so now we have to say silly things like ‘unalive’ — at least until Google/the advertisers catch on. These days YouTube is more censored than traditional TV.

I think the "unalive" nonsense is idiotic too, especially when it increasingly bleeds into elsewhere online (and probably offline, too). But that's not the same thing as "mixed opinions" in general on HN. That would be more accurate of, say, Twitter (where we are nearing two years and counting of the imminent collapse of the site any day now post-Musk acquisition, as opposed to seemingly every news event proving that…

I think perhaps what there are ‘mixed opinions’ on is the actual management and day-to-day practice of YouTube as a company, rather than the site itself. We’re all very, very grateful to have such an amazing place to learn and be entertained. And, in my opinion, the website and apps are very nicely designed and work better than anything else.

I do wish the TikTokification would stop, though. But that’s never going to happen, given how effective it is at holding our eyeballs hostage.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#126

Post by chr1 »

yyyfb wrote: post #45

Next time you're thinking "I wish I was the one who had made a billion dollars with my startup idea", remember that only health and family matter, and to have fun while you're alive. RIP. Edit: some people misinterpreted my comment. I'm just one anonymous voice on the Internet, but am deeply saddened by the passing of Susan Wojcicki, who meant a lot to me as one of the many people who crossed paths with her professio…

Health is only temporary, and everyone in your family is going to die, until someone makes a trillion dollar startup to cure aging. So it is fundamentally wrong to put health, family, and work as things opposing each other, ultimately they are all needed on a way to get all of the galaxy filled with life. And as Susan have shown one can both do great work, and have a big family with 5 children.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#127

Post by somenameforme »

tomohelix wrote: post #58
daveed wrote: post #49

I'm not a Googler, but would still ask commenters to show some respect for the person who died, and save your opinions about youtube for another day.

Maybe I am a callous person, but I have never agreed to this "don't speak ill of the dead" thing. People live and die. It is inevitable. To the grieving family, I can understand why refraining from insulting the dearly departed is necessary. They are grieving and can be irrational. No need to make things worse for them. But between unrelated people? Why can't I discuss the legacy of the dead? We are defined by our de…

Socrates never wrote a single thing down and was, somewhat ironically, opposed to writing. The reason is that he felt that words cannot defend themselves. They can be twisted, taken out of context, and misrepresented, with none there to defend them, provide that missing context, or what not. Fortunately his student Plato disagreed so here we can discuss him 2400 years after his death.

With a dead person, I think this logic holds to an even higher degree. Personally I'm not really sure whether I agree or disagree with it, but it seems pretty reasonable, especially if we don't hyperbolically immediately leap to absurdly extreme examples like Hitler or whatever.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#128

Post by cpncrunch »

troll_v_bridge wrote: post #83
santiagobasulto wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has nothing to do with business or entrepreneurship. It's cancer, it's a bitch. It can take a 10 year old boy, or an elite athlete.

You can’t really say it does or doesn’t. Research shows stress can be a contributor though. https://med.stanford.edu/survivingcancer/cancer-and-stress/s... .

Main factors are sleep, sunlight, diet and exercise as well as stress. You can see her schedule here:

https://press.farm/susan-wojcickis-daily-routine-youtubes-ce...

Sleep about 6hr, which isnt ideal. Not much chance to get sunlight which significantly reduces cancer incidence. Not much relaxing time.

The question becomes, is the work worth it?

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#129

Post by jojobas »

ithkuil wrote: post #77
mieses wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the pharmocracy will allow a cure for cancer?

Why not? Isn't it in "their interest" to keep people alive longer and longer?

A cured customer is a lost customer. Indefinite remission while taking a daily dose is plausible, or maybe $2.5M per head as Zolgensma.

Re: Susan Wojcicki has died

#130

Post by cpncrunch »

roenxi wrote: post #111
troll_v_bridge wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t really say it does or doesn’t. Research shows stress can be a contributor though. https://med.stanford.edu/survivingcancer/cancer-and-stress/s... .

Well, yeah. For the sort of people who have "Title: CEO" on their Wikipedia page I suspect we're overdrawing from the pool of people where mission implicitly matters a little more than taking it easy. One way or the other you're going to die, but if your response to that is to relax and try to eke out a few years by keeping your stress down then CEOing is probably not for you.

You can change it if you want to. An extra 25 years seems worth it to me.
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