Postmortem of my 9 year journey at Google

Post by ethbr1 » Sun, Aug 18, 2024, 3:19 PM UTC

robertlagrant wrote: post #101

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google was the company that kept making the web better in every way. Amazing search, endless services each with solid json APIs, a fast multi-process web-browser, & investment in the web as a whole. Google killed the king, and the king was the desktop. The king was apps. Microsoft seemed omnipotent & in total control, and the rise of the web isn't totally Google's but they sure did a lot and they sure rode that wave.…

I don't really understand this. Don't you think search, mail, docs, maps, adsense, were products? What were the API platforms they were making up until G+? To my recollection, G+ was actually pretty good at launch. It just was killed (or hobbled, for future killing) incredibly early for a network-effects, non-first mover product.

Post by deisteve » Sun, Aug 18, 2024, 3:33 PM UTC

joenot443 wrote: post #164

deisteve wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but the work that Googlers do most of HN can do its the proximity, pedigree, profile that you have to fit to get in to Google I'm happy for those that made it. Not everybody gets to work for Google. But the work they do are no less challenging or more important than what the rest of us do. If anything FAANG has contributed greatly to the American Firewall of Algorithms and have destroyed an entire generation's abilit…

> "if they are paying you a large salary, what they take from you is far greater" Hmm, this seems like a nice thing to tell oneself to avoid feeling underpaid :)

Post by dave333 » Sun, Aug 18, 2024, 4:46 PM UTC

I_AM_A_SMURF wrote: post #85

dave333 wrote: post #34

The traditional view is that young engineers should join startups in hope of a massive payoff if one goes big, but working for 10 years at BigCo with good salary and stock plans can set you up for life without any risk. One path to avoid is the one I took which was to work at a big tech co as a contractor. Good rates but nothing to show for it after 10 years other than the experience and whatever I had put in my 401K…

I don't know that sounds very optimistic. I'm 10 in tech and L6 now. I'm definitely not set for life, like, not even close.

Post by usr1106 » Sun, Aug 18, 2024, 4:49 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #161

usr1106 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be willing to pay based on usage. But my usage is so low that the current price feels horrendous per hour.

> But my usage is so low that the current price feels horrendous per hour. I don’t know how you can decry video streaming and advertising as destroying the planet and thus hating one of the companies that provide these services YET you use it.

Post by 0xpgm » Sun, Aug 18, 2024, 4:59 PM UTC

makerofthings wrote: post #178

p4bl0 wrote: post #155

I've always wondered if privacy conscious engineers who work at Google do actually use Google's services for their personal lives (Google Drive, Google Photos, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Keep, Google Docs, etc.)? And if so, do they continue to use them when after leaving the company? I ask this question here because there seem to be quite some (ex-)Google employees in this thread.

I work at google and I use google products. Sure, some giant automated heap of code is processing your data and deciding how many grammerly adverts to show you, but your data is about as safe as it can be from loss or from humans. There are so many controls and checks in place when working with user data it's difficult to get things done some times (and quite rightly too).