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Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

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11–20 of 90 posts

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#11
I dont get it. Study after study seems to indicate that remote work is more efficient all around. What is it that makes management so bearish towards remote?

When Microsoft "lost the mobile war" everybody was in the office still, no? Is it conceivable that google is behind on AI for reasons other than wfh?

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#12
You don't have to look too hard to find examples of fully-remote (from day 1) startups succeeding (e.g., Redpanda eating Confluent's lunch). If your company is struggling to succeed then your product(s) simply isn't good enough, and thinking that having more butts in seats inside of a big office building is going to change that is wishful thinking by the people who don't actually build the products.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#13
I’m not convinced by his claim, and I’d love to see some convincing data backing him up.

I think a more likely explanation is that Google’s own internal policies, procedures, and culture (unrelated to remote work) are the reasons for falling behind.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#14
post #2

If you’re still under the impression that network and server design wasn’t about enabling remote work from the start, then you’re simply not seeing the bigger picture. The entire foundation of these systems was built to break down geographical barriers and enable people to work and collaborate from anywhere. This was never just about sharing resources—it was always about laying the groundwork for what would evolve in…

You seem very confident in your view. Would you like to provide some supporting evidence?

Arthur C. Clarke famously predicted all of this in 1964. Basically: distance will become irrelevant to intellectual work.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#15
Could it be that people just aren't that motivated to build AI for someone who lays people off (therefore doubling the workload for all who remained) while paying themselves hundred million dollar bonuses? Nah, it's those lazy plebeians' fault.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#16
post #8

The entire video was on youtube and has since been taken private. The media are taking his relatively tame opinion on work ethics and blowing it up into click-bait. His comment wasn't targeting remote work or WFH specifically - but general work ethic of companies. He praised TSMC and Musk - who are notorious for poor treatment of workers. That's all you need to know about this. If WFH or remote work to blame - why is…

He’s right, Americans won’t work like employees at TSMC in Taiwan. There were _decades_ of struggle to get eight hour per day/five day work weeks.

If Elon Musk, the richest man on earth, wants to work all the time, that’s his prerogative and right. He shouldn’t be allowed to force that on his workers though.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#17
post #8

The entire video was on youtube and has since been taken private. The media are taking his relatively tame opinion on work ethics and blowing it up into click-bait. His comment wasn't targeting remote work or WFH specifically - but general work ethic of companies. He praised TSMC and Musk - who are notorious for poor treatment of workers. That's all you need to know about this. If WFH or remote work to blame - why is…

I'll put in my 8 hours for sure -- but I'm not going to burn the midnight oil to make my capitalist overlords richer.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#18
post #11

I dont get it. Study after study seems to indicate that remote work is more efficient all around. What is it that makes management so bearish towards remote? When Microsoft "lost the mobile war" everybody was in the office still, no? Is it conceivable that google is behind on AI for reasons other than wfh?

Because people being self-disciplined and self-motivated annihilates the management layer. What do you manage when people manage themselves? You can be a project manager or you can be out of a job. They don't like that.

Re: Eric Schmidt Says Google Is Falling Behind on AI–and Remote Work Is Why

#20
post #2

If you’re still under the impression that network and server design wasn’t about enabling remote work from the start, then you’re simply not seeing the bigger picture. The entire foundation of these systems was built to break down geographical barriers and enable people to work and collaborate from anywhere. This was never just about sharing resources—it was always about laying the groundwork for what would evolve in…

The issue is that a company which was local first will not be able to turn into a remote company because the company culture is completely wrong for it. It is impossible to run a team locally the same way you do remotely.

If the first instinct of everyone is to have an in person meeting them you're in a company which can't run remotely. If you're in a company where you get sent an instant message then you can't run it outside of the single time zone where the headquarters are.

You need to be comfortable with emails and high latency responses to have a company that can run globally.

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