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How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

aaronsw.com

81–90 of 171 posts

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#81
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This one doesn't look gray: http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-mozillas-amazing-offic...

This, incidentally, is the same building that Google San Francisco is in.

Thank you for saying "incidentally" instead of "ironically." You are one in a million.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#82
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not much. i quit a few months ago and so happy to be out of that insane place. they compare your work against your coworkers, so its constant competition, even if you meet your "goals". they also have zero work/life balance. all that free food and google shuttles wear off after a couple of months. then their non-stop work life settles in and you realize you made a horrible decision by accepting the job offer. the onl…

Apparently you haven't worked for Microsoft. Google is engineer's heaven compared to MS.

>Google is engineer's heaven compared to MS.

How so? I'd be crushed at the thought of using my skills to get people to click on ads, or coming up with new ways to mine their data.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#83
I don't work at Google and from where I sit now, it's hard to imagine myself wanting to work for Google, but this complaint that it's infantalizing its employees is ridiculous. Making your own food and doing your own laundry are not substantial life challenges. Growing up is not about learning to do chores you don't actually have to do. (When you make enough money to pay someone to mow your lawn, are you back to being a little kid?) The whole article is premised on the idea that the status quo in which most adults do have to do (or choose to do) their laundry is somehow intrinsically superior, which is just silly. Think of all the other services you don't do yourself, or even that your grandparents do but which now come in the form of a household appliance. Why do some services go in the bucket labeled "self-sufficiency" and all the other ones don't?

Growing up is also not about throwing out the brightly colored things and getting rid of the spaceship models. Why would you think that? Because someone told you to act like a Real Adult? Because when you grow up, you need to trade in your dinosaurs for responsible abstract art or else...well, what, exactly? Growing up is about taking responsibility for yourself. That's basically it. Maybe Google is preventing that too, but this article doesn't make that case.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#84
post #52

Who maintains/pays for the site now? I tried going to the top page, expecting some kind of obituary or explanation as to why the site is still up, but the blurb there makes it sound like Aaron stepped out for a week and will be updating again soon, except for the last updated note in the corner. I did a whois lookup out of curiosity, but the contact information all refers to contactprivacy.com, which is apparently se…

Pretty sure Sean B. Palmer is taking care of it (or at least has taken care of it so far)

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#85
post #17

A month earlier, Aaron wrote about his experiences working in a more traditional kind of office: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/officespace > Gray walls, gray desks, gray noise. The first day I showed up here, I simply couldn’t take it. By lunch time I had literally locked myself in a bathroom stall and started crying. So I'm not sure what kind of office would have ever met his approval.

To use Hacker News' main rhetorical meme, what would Steve Jobs say?

When he found virtually all computer design schlocky, I'm sure people rolled their eyes. I haven't visited Apple; for all I know, they have the same dull corporate office mindset as anywhere. But it wouldn't be surprising for an idealized Steve Jobs to find the usual workplaces repellent to any halfway creative soul.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#86
post #84
post #52

Who maintains/pays for the site now? I tried going to the top page, expecting some kind of obituary or explanation as to why the site is still up, but the blurb there makes it sound like Aaron stepped out for a week and will be updating again soon, except for the last updated note in the corner. I did a whois lookup out of curiosity, but the contact information all refers to contactprivacy.com, which is apparently se…

Pretty sure Sean B. Palmer is taking care of it (or at least has taken care of it so far)

Looks like you're probably right. I googled him and found http://inamidst.com/sbp/, which says "I’m taking care of Aaron’s sites and data, so email me if you have any queries about that."

I initially wondered about it because it was actually really disturbing when I considered the fungible nature of websites and the possibility of someone posting "past articles" as Aaron.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#87
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not much. i quit a few months ago and so happy to be out of that insane place. they compare your work against your coworkers, so its constant competition, even if you meet your "goals". they also have zero work/life balance. all that free food and google shuttles wear off after a couple of months. then their non-stop work life settles in and you realize you made a horrible decision by accepting the job offer. the onl…

Apparently you haven't worked for Microsoft. Google is engineer's heaven compared to MS.

Yes, and? WTF does this have to do with anything?

  "Maybe you should work in North Korea, Microsoft is really cozy in comparison"

  "Thanks for your input, Captain CouldJustifyAnythingThatWay"

  "Oh, maybe you should try reading comments from dev/random, they're much worse!"

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> At the same time, I feel like I'm doing impactful work, with some very smart people. Ah, you must be one of the stars getting people to click on ads, even more. No matter how you spin it, you make money by what can rightfully be characterized as fraud (1,2,3), or confusing ads with unbiased content(if there's still a thing like unbiased content at Google) while ripping your users off. But whatever makes you feel b…

I work on Google Fiber. You give us money, we give you an Internet connection. I'm glad you made an account just for this, though. What a great community HN can be.

Is that a profitable business in and of itself or are you actually part of the ad revenue funnel? For some reason I thought Google was doing that at a loss to increase ad placement opportunities.

Re: How Google keeps employees by treating them like kids (2006)

#90
post #17

A month earlier, Aaron wrote about his experiences working in a more traditional kind of office: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/officespace > Gray walls, gray desks, gray noise. The first day I showed up here, I simply couldn’t take it. By lunch time I had literally locked myself in a bathroom stall and started crying. So I'm not sure what kind of office would have ever met his approval.

To use Hacker News' main rhetorical meme, what would Steve Jobs say? When he found virtually all computer design schlocky, I'm sure people rolled their eyes. I haven't visited Apple; for all I know, they have the same dull corporate office mindset as anywhere. But it wouldn't be surprising for an idealized Steve Jobs to find the usual workplaces repellent to any halfway creative soul.

The point was that Aaron found a dull grey "grown up" office dreary, but found the colourful and playful atmosphere of Google "infantalizing".
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