Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#141

Post by fulafel » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:02 PM UTC

victorhooi wrote: post #126

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #66

I think a major issue is what happens if Google locks your account for some reason. There have been instances in the past where Google has locked the account of a user for some TOS violations. http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-reseller... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/1/jordan-b-peters... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-21/one-statistics-prof... Given that Google has a propensity…

Thanks for bringing that up. However, te truth is often a bit more nuanced (although it doesn't make for as good headlines). Dissecting your three examples. In the first case, (and based on their own statements) those people were buying up phones by the hundreds, shipping them to a single physical address and then scalping over the internet. It's basically fraud. So yes, they probably got picked up by an automated al…

Those don't sound very convincing. Firstly, any time these things get enough press to become well known cases, it's natural that the "appeal to PR" vector gets them sorted out.

Secondly, the per case details don't look good for Google - in the first case, buying and reselling phones for a profit sounds perfectly above the board. Even something a "don't be evil" company might do... In the third case, the statement reads exactly like legalese that would be grudgingly put out by someone who's had a tussle with lawyers.

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#142

Post by joshuacc » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:03 PM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #85

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #66

I think a major issue is what happens if Google locks your account for some reason. There have been instances in the past where Google has locked the account of a user for some TOS violations. http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-reseller... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/1/jordan-b-peters... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-21/one-statistics-prof... Given that Google has a propensity…

I uploaded full seasons of a very old 90s cartoon and my account is disabled. I cannot even purchase YouTube TV to try it out. Of course, reaching out to support is moot - their RoboSupport sucks. I will never purchase a Google product if I can help it and will steer clear of them in any team setting where I can affect the decision.

> I uploaded full seasons of a very old 90s cartoon and my account is disabled. I cannot even purchase YouTube TV to try it out.

You violated the law and their (rather reasonable in this case) terms of service and are shocked to find they'd rather not do business with you?

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#143

Post by victorhooi » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:03 PM UTC

raesene9 wrote: post #106

Scirra_Tom wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is picking a few cases then concluding it's Google's propensity perhaps a bit hyperbolic?

I think it's worth illustrating the concept. A device that's heavily reliant on a cloud service (in this case Google's) means you have to worry about the risk of being locked out of that account especially if getting access after that lockout is difficult. These devices are very different to traditional computing devices (e.g. Windows/Linux PCs) which mostly store content locally as there lockout from a single cloud…

I actually dissected the authors example above - and they actually don't really help prove his/her point.

The first example - was basically fraud, that probably got picked up in hijacking/bot-net detection (based on public statements).

The second - I can't comment, as there are no public statements.

The third - the author made a public statement, and seems to harbour no ill-will to Google after it was explained to him what actually happened. I can't comment on that conversation, but I will say that in general, Google does a lot to protect its users from all kinds of security issues and attacks.

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#144

Post by jellicle » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:04 PM UTC

nickysielicki wrote: post #107

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #66

I think a major issue is what happens if Google locks your account for some reason. There have been instances in the past where Google has locked the account of a user for some TOS violations. http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-reseller... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/1/jordan-b-peters... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-21/one-statistics-prof... Given that Google has a propensity…

Not a concern for 99.999% of people, developer or not.

Do you mean that people aren't concerned, or shouldn't be concerned?

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#145

Post by Touche » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:04 PM UTC

What's interesting to me about this marketing page is how little ChromeOS is mentioned. I'm probably reading too much into it, but could it mean the long-predicted pivot towards Android being the OS? Or is it an attempt to remove focus from the operating system (because it's the web, after all)?

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#146

Post by raesene9 » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:04 PM UTC

victorhooi wrote: post #126

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #66

I think a major issue is what happens if Google locks your account for some reason. There have been instances in the past where Google has locked the account of a user for some TOS violations. http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-reseller... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/1/jordan-b-peters... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-21/one-statistics-prof... Given that Google has a propensity…

Thanks for bringing that up. However, te truth is often a bit more nuanced (although it doesn't make for as good headlines). Dissecting your three examples. In the first case, (and based on their own statements) those people were buying up phones by the hundreds, shipping them to a single physical address and then scalping over the internet. It's basically fraud. So yes, they probably got picked up by an automated al…

To speak about that third case the very real concern I would have there is that it appears he got access to his account back by being able to attract enough attention from Google management, as he was well connected and had a relatively high profile twitter account (> 100k followers)

That kind of solution is unlikely to be of use to customers who don't have the ability to bypass the common process...

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#147

Post by Mikeb85 » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:05 PM UTC

dabockster wrote: post #3

horsecaptin wrote: post #2

What sort of privacy guarantees come with a Google Device?

Absolutely none. Source: Ran a Nexus 5 for a few years and found out about Google Location History after I traded it in for an iPhone.

That's a feature. Helps me find my car in parking lots, tells me what traffic is like on my commute, helps me retrace my steps after a heavy night of drinking...

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#148

Post by victorhooi » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:05 PM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #85

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #66

I think a major issue is what happens if Google locks your account for some reason. There have been instances in the past where Google has locked the account of a user for some TOS violations. http://m.gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/google-pixel-reseller... http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/1/jordan-b-peters... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-21/one-statistics-prof... Given that Google has a propensity…

I uploaded full seasons of a very old 90s cartoon and my account is disabled. I cannot even purchase YouTube TV to try it out. Of course, reaching out to support is moot - their RoboSupport sucks. I will never purchase a Google product if I can help it and will steer clear of them in any team setting where I can affect the decision.

Um, you realise you uploaded a bunch of (presumedly) copyrighted material to a public video sharing site?

That would normally raise a bunch of red flags.

If you're stuck, there are dedicated support channels to actually talk to people - or feel free to reach out to me (my non-work email is in my profile.)

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#149

Post by bischofs » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:06 PM UTC

bubblethink wrote: post #56

I hate this trend of dumbing down product specifications. I don't know who started it (probably Apple?), but everyone does it now. Like what fucking i5 or i7 processor ? Is the storage soldered even for the nvme option ? It doesn't help that Intel keeps playing tricks with their naming either. i7 used to be quad core, then it became dual core for thin laptops. Now they are back to low freq quad core in some SKUs. For…

I agree, I love that they don't even mention what the GPU is, It is now assumed that you don't really ever need any dedicated graphics.

All this despite integrated graphics still sucking with all of its dedicated memory and such. Just look at a desktop GPU and then a processor and tell me you can cram all of that into one chip.

Re: Google Pixelbook – A High Performance Chromebook

#150

Post by grzm » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 7:06 PM UTC

notheguyouthink wrote: post #138

busterarm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was your gmail alternative? I tried to switch everything to Lavabit, but then a month later the Snowden thing happened...that didn't last (and I'm still out all that money)

I switched to Fastmail. Note that my main concern was being banned by Google, so security/privacy wasn't my focus. I say that because I believe Fastmail is still in the US[1], which brings up privacy concerns imo. Recently on HN I saw another email provider that offered fully encrypted email, perhaps end to end, but I've already committed to Fastmail so I didn't follow up with them too much. I'm happy with Fastmail f…

Fastmail is based in Australia.

https://www.fastmail.com/about/company.html