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Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

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Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#291

Post by chauzer »

libraryatnight wrote: post #31
Kylekramer wrote: post #20

It is quite the jump from “This is the path we’re headed down – a single unified, ‘beautiful’ product across everything. If you don’t get that, then you should probably work somewhere else" to "Agree with SPYW or GTFO". One is an admirable goal for a whale of a company and the other is a stubborn denial of contrary opinions. I thought Pando Daily was suppose to be a "different" tech news site.

I don't think Sarah Lacy is capable of producing a "different" tech news site, really. The article read like a tabloid.

Agreed. A lot of her stories look like ad placements for the companies she's covering too.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#292

Post by shinratdr »

mindcrime wrote: post #263
jeffreymcmanus wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Plenty of us" where plenty equals...how many? Apple was crowned as the biggest PC maker in the world this week.

Plenty of us" where plenty equals...how many? Honestly, from my point of view, just myself counts as "plenty" in this context. But I'm pretty sure the number is actually higher than that. Just count up all the F/OSS ideologues who refuse to use closed-source / proprietary software as a matter of principle, for starters. And I'm guessing there are a handful of folks who don't count themselves as total GNU hippies, but…

> I never said they weren't successful... I'm just saying that not everybody buys into their bullshit or likes their shitty proprietary products, that's all.

...So you've chosen to swallow someone else's bullshit line then instead? That's way better.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#293

Post by towaway4321 »

danilocampos wrote: post #56

A few decades from now, when someone writes up an HBS case study on Google, how will it read? My suspicion is that Google is going to treat us to a very painful object lesson: what happens to your business when you compromise the values of a beloved core product. Here's the thing: having the most complete, most accurate, most relevant search results means never having to say you're sorry. You can add ads, you can do…

Here's where you're mistaken. Google is only compromising the relevancy of their results for a few months. After that, with such a strong (unethical) promotion, Google Plus results will be THE most relevant, because users have switched to it. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#294

Post by tetiitet543 »

danilocampos wrote: post #56

A few decades from now, when someone writes up an HBS case study on Google, how will it read? My suspicion is that Google is going to treat us to a very painful object lesson: what happens to your business when you compromise the values of a beloved core product. Here's the thing: having the most complete, most accurate, most relevant search results means never having to say you're sorry. You can add ads, you can do…

Here's where you're mistaken. Google is only compromising the relevancy of their results for a few months. After that, with such a strong (unethical) promotion, Google Plus results will be THE most relevant, because users have switched to it. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#295

Post by mindcrime »

shinratdr wrote: post #292
mindcrime wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of us" where plenty equals...how many? Honestly, from my point of view, just myself counts as "plenty" in this context. But I'm pretty sure the number is actually higher than that. Just count up all the F/OSS ideologues who refuse to use closed-source / proprietary software as a matter of principle, for starters. And I'm guessing there are a handful of folks who don't count themselves as total GNU hippies, but…

> I never said they weren't successful... I'm just saying that not everybody buys into their bullshit or likes their shitty proprietary products, that's all. ...So you've chosen to swallow someone else's bullshit line then instead? That's way better.

Not everyone has the same fundamental values, you know. I value freedom, hackability and openness over the kinds of things that Apple fanboys seem to prize. That doesn't make anybody wrong or right, or either option better or worse; it just reflects the underlying truth that we don't all value the same things.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#296

Post by shinratdr »

mindcrime wrote: post #295
shinratdr wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never said they weren't successful... I'm just saying that not everybody buys into their bullshit or likes their shitty proprietary products, that's all. ...So you've chosen to swallow someone else's bullshit line then instead? That's way better.

Not everyone has the same fundamental values, you know. I value freedom, hackability and openness over the kinds of things that Apple fanboys seem to prize. That doesn't make anybody wrong or right, or either option better or worse; it just reflects the underlying truth that we don't all value the same things.

Right, but I didn't say the products you like are shitty now did I? What you like isn't bullshit. Your overly aggressive opinion on Apple is what's bullshit. Anyone with a reasoned opinion would never brand Apple's products as shitty. They might not like some of the philosophy behind them, but they aren't bad products in any light.

We may not all value the same things, that doesn't mean we need to be deliberately ignorant about the appeal others see in a product.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#297

Post by itsameta4 »

libraryatnight wrote: post #31
Kylekramer wrote: post #20

It is quite the jump from “This is the path we’re headed down – a single unified, ‘beautiful’ product across everything. If you don’t get that, then you should probably work somewhere else" to "Agree with SPYW or GTFO". One is an admirable goal for a whale of a company and the other is a stubborn denial of contrary opinions. I thought Pando Daily was suppose to be a "different" tech news site.

I don't think Sarah Lacy is capable of producing a "different" tech news site, really. The article read like a tabloid.

Yeah, I'm not really impressed by a journalist who calls Zynga a "hot new company to work for".

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#298

Post by fred_nada »

jrockway wrote: post #185
danilocampos wrote: post #56

A few decades from now, when someone writes up an HBS case study on Google, how will it read? My suspicion is that Google is going to treat us to a very painful object lesson: what happens to your business when you compromise the values of a beloved core product. Here's the thing: having the most complete, most accurate, most relevant search results means never having to say you're sorry. You can add ads, you can do…

But one day, maybe around 2009, something happened. Where once I was delighted with Google's search, it started getting annoying. Things like automatically showing you a SERP for a different spelling of your query, because Google thought you were looking for that. Then they started matching to synonyms (tear and rip, say). And so this tool that used to do exactly what it was asked became too clever by half. I'm prett…

You honestly feel that the Matt Cutts article about seeing his werewolf photo benefits search results? You are definitely in the minority. Look at the comments.

EDIT: Never mind. Didn't know you are a Googler. of course you agree with Matt Cutts. :)

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#299

Post by barrkel »

mvgoogler wrote: post #286
robk wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's little incentive in filling out a form that disappears into the ether. Given that Google's other web-based support tools are mostly useless and unanswered (Gmail support for example), this is not much an incentive to waste time filling out another form and likely getting no reply whatsoever.

I know that the search quality team loves getting specific examples of bad search results. I know this both from talking to them and from seeing how they interact with people on forums (HN in particular :-) ) See, for example: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3277867 I don't work on search quality, but I can pretty much guarantee that if you send specific examples to the search quality team, either through the fee…

Here's a specific example:

https://www.google.com/search?q=low+tire+pressure+motorbike

Lots of stuff in there about mountain bikes, Sheldon Brown, etc.

Re: Larry Page to Googlers: If You Don’t Get SPYW, Work Somewhere Else

#300

Post by ken »

Aloisius wrote: post #35
pg wrote: post #3

You don't have to get a job at another company. You could also start your own.

Serious question: have there been any success stories of ex-Googlers starting their own companies? I've been under the impression that the few that have had successful exits were bought by Google itself, mostly as talent acquisitions.

I just noticed that 6 of the 10 people on the Parse team have Google backgrounds: https://www.parse.com/about/team

They're still in beta so perhaps it's premature to call it a success story, but it looks promising.

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