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You know, Google, the web already had this feature

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Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#11

Post by Steko »

yanw wrote: post #3

So don't install the extension then. Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation posts?!

"So don't install the extension then."

So if a crack house opens up in your neighborhood the proper response is not invite them to the barbecue? Shouldn't we also use our voices to call attention to things we want changed?

"Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation post?!"

If you think HN is a haven for Google bashing you are hilariously off base.

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#12

Post by mapgrep »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

I feel the author's pain. I don't hold it against Google for looking at the way RSS is (was?) used and re-implementing it in a way that they can more easily make money off it, while simultaneously removing any traction they are offering for the old non monetizable way of doing things. They are a business after all and no amount of money in the bank is enough [1]. But I find the whining a bit distracting since the sam…

>"There is no "patent" on... creating a more durable (and by that I mean self sustainable) service which has the same capability."

I'd love to hear why you believe going from a decentralized open shared system like RSS to a centralized proprietary system controlled by one corporation (Google+) is even conceivably more "durable."

I'd bet $100 that Google+ sharing will be dead and buried long before RSS goes anywhere.

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#13

Post by yanw »

Steko wrote: post #11
yanw wrote: post #3

So don't install the extension then. Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation posts?!

"So don't install the extension then." So if a crack house opens up in your neighborhood the proper response is not invite them to the barbecue? Shouldn't we also use our voices to call attention to things we want changed? "Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation post?!" If you think HN is a haven for Google bashing you are hilariously off base.

How is that analogy valid?! why install a browser extension when you're not interested in its functionality?

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#15

Post by InclinedPlane »

kunai wrote: post #2

Google has overstayed the web's welcome. What started out as a quirky, innovative company that bucked all of the suit-and-tie trends (see Microsoft, HP, even Apple in some regards) of Silicon Valley, has now turned into a monstrous calamity with no regard for its users. Up until 2009, it was breezy and beautiful, but right now, at this moment, it's a different story altogether. Don't be evil? Pfeh. The only thing lef…

The biggest problem with Google has been that they've been a "benevolent monarch", more or less. Meaning, much of the reason why google has been good for the web has been due to specific choices that google leadership has made and the ways that google has chosen to wield its power. This contrasts to strict limits on power and strong external forces from competition, etc.

As long as the monarch is benevolent this is great, but then there's no mechanism to prevent abuses of power, and then maybe the monarch changes, or circumstances change, and the inevitable happens.

Google is making more money than ever, but that's still not enough for them. And now we're starting to see a lot of the "well, we chose not to be evil" slip away. The problem with "don't be evil" is that it's weak, and it's a double negative. Contrast it with "be good". Neutral isn't evil[1], and once you're down in the moral gray area pit anyway it's easy to move the goal posts and define "evil" differently. One could make a very well-founded argument, for example, that Microsoft, Oracle, Apple, and even EA or Comcast are not, strictly speaking, "evil" companies.

[1: what makes a man turn neutral?]

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#16

Post by angryasian »

lets all stop with all the fear mongering. Do you guys really believe that every time a site loads a facebook or twitter widget they aren't tracking you either. I can name 1000 other trackers that sites actually do install and that do genuinely sell your information. There are a handful of widgets that do the same thing for twitter and facebook so lets just stop the bs.

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#17

Post by endlessvoid94 »

Waiting around for people to embed metadata in their webpages is a terrible business strategy.

This is way better for google than something like an embedded RSS feed. This lets google generate the equivalent automatically, without webmasters needing to do anything.

Yes, this occurs at the expense of other things (annoying developers). But that's the reason.

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#19

Post by endlessvoid94 »

mapgrep wrote: post #12
ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

I feel the author's pain. I don't hold it against Google for looking at the way RSS is (was?) used and re-implementing it in a way that they can more easily make money off it, while simultaneously removing any traction they are offering for the old non monetizable way of doing things. They are a business after all and no amount of money in the bank is enough [1]. But I find the whining a bit distracting since the sam…

>"There is no "patent" on... creating a more durable (and by that I mean self sustainable) service which has the same capability." I'd love to hear why you believe going from a decentralized open shared system like RSS to a centralized proprietary system controlled by one corporation (Google+) is even conceivably more "durable." I'd bet $100 that Google+ sharing will be dead and buried long before RSS goes anywhere.

I trust google to build good infrastructure more than I trust the collective developer community. That's one reason -- whatever they build will be more robust, flexible, and extensible. And immediately adopted by hundreds of millions of people automatically.

I guess that's not the same as "durable", but playing devil's advocate, those seem like good reasons to me.

Re: You know, Google, the web already had this feature

#20

Post by magicalist »

Steko wrote: post #11
yanw wrote: post #3

So don't install the extension then. Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation posts?!

"So don't install the extension then." So if a crack house opens up in your neighborhood the proper response is not invite them to the barbecue? Shouldn't we also use our voices to call attention to things we want changed? "Who are these low karma users who keep submitting these Google bashing/feigned indignation post?!" If you think HN is a haven for Google bashing you are hilariously off base.

uhh...what? This is an opt-in feature of the Google+ Chrome extension.

Meaning, you'd probably only install this if you wanted extra Google+ functionality in your browser, like, say, alerting you if the page you're on has a G+ page. Your analogy is terrible.

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