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Google stopping coding competitions

developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#231

Post by Gigachad »

roncesvalles wrote: post #229
Gigachad wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ability to do things and have an impact on the world. You can afford to try out crazy projects that require enormous amounts of capital. Obviously no one needs this, but there are plenty of things to spend your money on that isn't buying 30 of the same thing.

How much does that motivate a person though?

Observably, quite a lot, considering these CEOs are dedicating so much of their life towards this when they could easily stop working now and be rich forever if they only cared about holiday homes and boats.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#233

Post by altair222 »

gkoberger wrote: post #9

We could lament them shutting it down, but why not thank them for doing this for 20 years? That's a LONG time to do anything, and despite what Google has become, it absolutely defined tech culture. Now it's obvious and commonplace, but an employee-centric company was revolutionary at the time. Things like this changed the lives of every single person here, either directly or indirectly. And best yet, it's a chance fo…

I dont know of any good reason to have gratitude for a corporation for anything. Having gratitude of the workers and academics that made it happen on the other hand? Sure, that's fair. But gratitude for a corporation, especially one that is dystopian and anti-consumer in everything they do? No can do.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#234

Post by AlbertCory »

red-iron-pine wrote: post #118
AlbertCory wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Charlie was not a "line cook." That's someone who takes prepped ingredients and combines them into a dish according to directions, and may in fact have zero ability to choose and create dishes himself. I don't know if he'd call himself "executive chef" but that's more like his job description.

Aye. This guy was a pro chef hired to cater to a cash-rich start up. Not a college dropout working the prep line, or, like many of the kitchens in the US, a Hispanic guy with semi-passable English skills and who may-or-may not be here legally. Charlie got lucky.

he got lucky, but when they said, "We'll give you some stock in lieu of a big salary" he had to say Yes. How many chefs would do that?

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#235

Post by shaunsingh0207 »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #62
shaunsingh0207 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate how "normal" of a company google is becoming. Closing down services and products not because they aren't profitable, but because they aren't profitable enough . They've really lost their way the last few years. In the late 2000's/early 2010's, google was pictured as the "fun" place to work. In part due to their coding competitions and the various other events they held for students throughout the year. Everyon…

> Most of the people I know who wanted to work at google, and a few that worked at google, now have higher paying, more enjoyable, and more stable jobs elsewhere Honest question (this is really not a challenge), care to share where? I always thought of the FAANGs (collectively) giving the best compensation in the business. Which companies are paying more than Google but with more stability?

A few yeas back several of them moved to netflix, and a few moved to airbnb and uber. I'm sure google still pays executives well above any other company, the people I knew at the time were fairly inexperienced and new to the field, and from what I heard google seemed to undervalue them relative to what other Bay Area companies were offering at the time.

Of course, this was a few years back, I'm not sure if the landscape has changed now for better or for worse.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#236

Post by TimTheTinker »

astrange wrote: post #171
jjoonathan wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's an economic vacuum that causes large companies to exist The size of these vacuums is a direct result of policy. Tax policy, liability policy, antitrust policy -- there are a dozen levers we could pull to create a corporate landscape that looks very different. But yes, with the levers in their current positions, what we see here is inevitable.

That's because large companies are good. They're easier to regulate and more productive. If you're a small company, that means you're not good enough to get big, and if you've met SMB owners they're often the most reactionary class of people.

Small businesses are a very good thing for local communities, if only because they engage people in productive work, enable them to feed their families, enrich local communities with more available goods and services, and promote community building and engagement. All business (in the classical sense, meaning productive work) is a good thing.

Large businesses are the ones that tend to abuse their power, gather data inappropriately, promote monopolies, squash competitors using underhanded tactics, make inappropriate financial deals, lie to investors, and rent-seek at a grand scale -- in other words, all the anti-patterns of badly regulated capitalism.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#237

Post by nemo44x »

roncesvalles wrote: post #229
Gigachad wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ability to do things and have an impact on the world. You can afford to try out crazy projects that require enormous amounts of capital. Obviously no one needs this, but there are plenty of things to spend your money on that isn't buying 30 of the same thing.

How much does that motivate a person though?

I think certain people a lot. As your wealth grows so do your ambitions for sone people. Self actualization is a pyramid onto its own. Power, influence, and legacy are attractive. Of course so is living a quiet life.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#238

Post by chlorion »

quantified wrote: post #99
giraffe_lady wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I'm not so sure that truck drivers haven't benefited from Google maps and the ability to search for things while on the road. Do you think they avoid the internet? Line cooks: they don't use the internet when they go home? They don't watch Youtube? They don't use Google maps to get where they're going sometimes?

I used to drive a box truck at work and I can definitely confirm that google maps is used heavily. I used Google maps during almost every trip!

Finding random addresses in places you aren't familiar with can be difficult and waste a lot of time, with the maps app it would let us go straight to the destination.

I can only recall one time that Google maps lead us astray too! It's very accurate even in rural areas and on random tiny back roads in the middle of nowhere.

Re: Google stopping coding competitions

#239

Post by lockhouse »

throwayyy479087 wrote: post #139
panic wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick is to slay the dragon and then go home. If you stick around the gold and treasure for too long, that’s when it starts to get dangerous.

Atlassian nailed this. So has Vercel - do one thing perfectly.

I don't think putting all your eggs in one basket is a smart long term strategy.
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