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Why I won’t work for Google

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Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#71

Post by politician »

harshreality wrote: post #15
sidcool wrote: post #6

The response doesn't seem convincing. By this standards he's not supposed to work for any corporation. I am a Google fanboy, I agree, and this might skew my opinion, but I am always open to debate.

Agreed. The response seems to conflate a bunch of different things and pretend it's all Google's fault. Snowden didn't blow the whistle on Google. Google can't control what the NSA is tapping or what court orders it gets. Maybe some people inside Google knew about inter-datacenter taps and didn't do anything about it, but once all of Google became aware, they started encrypting those links. Automatic indexing of emai…

Occasionally, I wonder if HN sells data on which way we vote for articles and comments. I guess we'll never know since they could be under an NSL.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#72

Post by jschuur »

id wrote: post #64
etfb wrote: post #30

The primary reason I won't work for Google is because I'm nowhere near smart enough. But I like to tell myself that the ethical shortcuts they've taken in pursuit of the almighty dollar are a good secondary reason. It's just that I don't need a secondary reason, so yay, consequence-free ethics!

It's not enough to be smart, you have to convince them that you're smart . And if the recruiters dislike you for whatever reason, there's nothing you can do about it.

I think Google's recruiters realize that some really smart people have certain personality types that may mean they don't perform well in classical interviews.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#73

Post by seanmcdirmid »

nanofortnight wrote: post #69
p4bl0 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I suppose in a Google browser too, because as I expected, my Firefox doesn't know what to do with cache: URLs.

Stick it into Google: http://google.com/search?q=cache:qnrq.se/why-i-wont-work-for...

This doesn't work behind the great firewall, unfortunately.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#74

Post by politician »

etherael wrote: post #62
microtonal wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All they can do is stick to the letter of the law. That's not all that they can do. Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, et al. are some of the most powerful entities in the US besides the oil industry. They matter to the US economy, and for that reason they are clearly in a position to influence government decisions. This has both positive and negative outcomes. Since trust in terms of privacy is important to…

Influencing government decisions is typically done by lobbying, handing more power to the state by way of smothering them in funds. Yes you might get your pet project some extra attention, but it's likely that the funds you use to accomplish that objective will be used for heinous ends elsewhere. It's much like negotiating with terrorists from a game theoretic perspective. Other alternatives are massive public awaren…

Consider the massive power wielded by SpaceX with respect to the purchase of Russian rocket components. They prevailed by applying the right amount of pressure at the opportune time (viz a viz Ukraine).

In principle, this accomplishment could be replicated.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#75

Post by hahainternet »

erddojo wrote: post #46
Oletros wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The products is ad space, not the users

If the product was the ad space, Google would be out of business. The product is the personal data Google packages up and sells to advertisers.

> The product is the personal data Google packages up and sells to advertisers.

What shit, show me how I can buy some. Show me some that someone has bought.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#76

Post by etherael »

politician wrote: post #74
etherael wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Influencing government decisions is typically done by lobbying, handing more power to the state by way of smothering them in funds. Yes you might get your pet project some extra attention, but it's likely that the funds you use to accomplish that objective will be used for heinous ends elsewhere. It's much like negotiating with terrorists from a game theoretic perspective. Other alternatives are massive public awaren…

Consider the massive power wielded by SpaceX with respect to the purchase of Russian rocket components. They prevailed by applying the right amount of pressure at the opportune time (viz a viz Ukraine). In principle, this accomplishment could be replicated.

They're advancing the interests of the state in the all important "great game", effectively increasing their power. All due respect to SpaceX, the state needs to die, not be further empowered. Not a valid strategy.

Also, they engage in good old fashioned direct bribery;

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00411116

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#77

Post by atmosx »

microtonal wrote: post #60
etherael wrote: post #50

All mainstream modern technology companies are in a no win tragic situation. They are accountable to the state which overrides their ability to make any kind of actual independent decisions when the interests of the state are at stake. Going against this would be an exercise in futility and you may well end up in prison for doing so. Getting angry at them for what they are forced at gunpoint to do is just wasted ener…

All they can do is stick to the letter of the law. That's not all that they can do. Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, et al. are some of the most powerful entities in the US besides the oil industry. They matter to the US economy, and for that reason they are clearly in a position to influence government decisions. This has both positive and negative outcomes. Since trust in terms of privacy is important to…

> That's not all that they can do. Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, et al. are some of the most powerful entities in the US besides the oil industry.

Above the oil industry and the US government there's the power driving the world (into oblivion): Wall Street (the financial services industry).

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#79

Post by mmahemoff »

id wrote: post #64
etfb wrote: post #30

The primary reason I won't work for Google is because I'm nowhere near smart enough. But I like to tell myself that the ethical shortcuts they've taken in pursuit of the almighty dollar are a good secondary reason. It's just that I don't need a secondary reason, so yay, consequence-free ethics!

It's not enough to be smart, you have to convince them that you're smart . And if the recruiters dislike you for whatever reason, there's nothing you can do about it.

It's not enough to be smart reason 2: Intelligence is not the only quality they're selecting for.

Re: Why I won’t work for Google

#80

Post by mehrdada »

etfb wrote: post #30

The primary reason I won't work for Google is because I'm nowhere near smart enough. But I like to tell myself that the ethical shortcuts they've taken in pursuit of the almighty dollar are a good secondary reason. It's just that I don't need a secondary reason, so yay, consequence-free ethics!

> The primary reason I won't work for Google is because I'm nowhere near smart enough

I think plenty of people tend to vastly overestimate Google's (or Facebook's, ...) hiring bar. I know quite a few people who would be happy to work there and (I believe) can easily beat the hiring process, but they self-eliminate themselves from the game, so I definitely recommend to folks not to make a prejudice about whether they can get into, because they generally don't have many data points, and go interview anyway. Let them figure out whether you are smart enough or not; don't self-eliminate. Never let the widespread propaganda lead you to believe that everyone hired by a successful company in the valley is a genius. They collectively hire many thousands of people; it's hard to believe they are all geniuses.

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