21–30 of 46 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Forgive me, I'm not up to date on Zimbabwe news. Why can't you get gas and cooking oil?
Economy is in tatters. The Zimbabwean dollar is worth less right now.
“We need a map of Kansas City using devices we provide you. We pay nothing up front, nothing at completion, and no residuals for profits we earn from your imagery. You may not keep the equipment we provide. You are responsible for all expenses.”
Who on earth would accept that Taskrabbit?
While this is a cool project and congrats to the guy, seriously, Google can't even cover the expenses for him and other people who do this kind of thing? How many people do this kind of thing, and how much would it cost Google to cover them all? How much would it cost them to cover a salary for them too, even a basic one? Do we have any way of trying to make a reasonable guess at that? Maybe Tawanda was aware of this…
This guy just wanted to record his home country and street view was a good way to fuse it with map data, and publish it widely.
Google didn't ask him to do this, so why would they pay him? He wanted the photos published, Google has a place to do that.
While this is a cool project and congrats to the guy, seriously, Google can't even cover the expenses for him and other people who do this kind of thing? How many people do this kind of thing, and how much would it cost Google to cover them all? How much would it cost them to cover a salary for them too, even a basic one? Do we have any way of trying to make a reasonable guess at that? Maybe Tawanda was aware of this…
Google normally does pay people to do this. That's how most of the streets in high tech countries were mapped. This guy just wanted to record his home country and street view was a good way to fuse it with map data, and publish it widely. Google didn't ask him to do this, so why would they pay him? He wanted the photos published, Google has a place to do that.
While this is a cool project and congrats to the guy, seriously, Google can't even cover the expenses for him and other people who do this kind of thing? How many people do this kind of thing, and how much would it cost Google to cover them all? How much would it cost them to cover a salary for them too, even a basic one? Do we have any way of trying to make a reasonable guess at that? Maybe Tawanda was aware of this…
While I’m glad someone found a way to turn money into happiness, this feels like the Black Mirror future of the gig worker economy. “We need a map of Kansas City using devices we provide you. We pay nothing up front, nothing at completion, and no residuals for profits we earn from your imagery. You may not keep the equipment we provide. You are responsible for all expenses.” Who on earth would accept that Taskrabbit?
I.e. organisations that think it’ll be a useful marketing effort, or it’ll help their customers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google normally does pay people to do this. That's how most of the streets in high tech countries were mapped. This guy just wanted to record his home country and street view was a good way to fuse it with map data, and publish it widely. Google didn't ask him to do this, so why would they pay him? He wanted the photos published, Google has a place to do that.
I know Google normally do this with paid staff. But they do have a reasonably big volunteer pool too, and I think it's fair to ask about them. I've volunteered for many things before, and I know that often (as in this case, it sounds like) the volunteers do get something non-monetary out of it too. Just seemed worth commenting on, especially as the headline made such a point of how much money it was.
Obviously hearing the answer is “get a camera loaned for free” was a disappointment.
While I’m glad someone found a way to turn money into happiness, this feels like the Black Mirror future of the gig worker economy. “We need a map of Kansas City using devices we provide you. We pay nothing up front, nothing at completion, and no residuals for profits we earn from your imagery. You may not keep the equipment we provide. You are responsible for all expenses.” Who on earth would accept that Taskrabbit?