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Google = the next big evil company?

S

Syringer

Lifer
Interesting article

Part of the problem is that Google has always held itself to a higher standard than other companies. We took them seriously when they said their corporate motto is ?Don?t be evil?. It was the right thing to say when they were young and battling the hated Microsoft. But today, as they begin to put themselves before what?s best for their users, that motto is coming back to haunt them.

They can?t redact the motto, of course. They can?t take back those words. Google will forever be held to a higher standard than everyone else, simply because they asked us to.

...

We?ve seen this before. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft were the darlings of the valley back in the late nineties. Just the fact that an entrepreneur got a meeting with one of them was something they brought up in their pitches to venture capitalists. The big three became very arrogant about their positions on the top of the food chain.

...

Now Google is in the position of dominance, and they definitely have the arrogance that goes with it. But they are in a very difficult spot because of that damned motto, and perhaps right on the tipping point where public opinion could change. More and more, people are hoping for Google to stumble. And every time they do, the press pounces. And they always point to the motto.
Click to expand...

One of the things that made Google big was indeed that it was a young, innovative, underdog that everyone wanted to see take over the big dominating companies at the time. However they now are a big dominating company, and generally the bigger you are the more you're going to stick with the status quo and become less innovative--a la Microsoft, AOL, etc.

In the attempts that Google has tried to be real innovative, outside of search and e-mail, it has failed generally. From its social neworking site, Orkut, to its IM program, and its answers site that faild to Yahoo's...Google's attempts at "getting with the times" haven't been great successes so far. In the internet age it's all about innovation and jumping on the next big thing, and I do feel confident with all the darts they're throwing out there that eventually they'll hit the bullseye that will keep them going.

The press, and now the bloggers are always looking to jump on the bandwagon and bash what's hot, and I think people will eventually tire of doing that to MS or Sony, and it seems like Google may be the next major target. Being a public company also makes it more difficult to really innovate and be creative, as you have your shareholders to satisfy on top of your all important user base, as well as the the media/bloggers..
 
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
 
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
Click to expand...
What does that have to do with being not-evil?
 
Originally posted by: Syringer
Interesting article

Part of the problem is that Google has always held itself to a higher standard than other companies. We took them seriously when they said their corporate motto is ?Don?t be evil?. It was the right thing to say when they were young and battling the hated Microsoft. But today, as they begin to put themselves before what?s best for their users, that motto is coming back to haunt them.

They can?t redact the motto, of course. They can?t take back those words. Google will forever be held to a higher standard than everyone else, simply because they asked us to.

...

We?ve seen this before. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft were the darlings of the valley back in the late nineties. Just the fact that an entrepreneur got a meeting with one of them was something they brought up in their pitches to venture capitalists. The big three became very arrogant about their positions on the top of the food chain.

...

Now Google is in the position of dominance, and they definitely have the arrogance that goes with it. But they are in a very difficult spot because of that damned motto, and perhaps right on the tipping point where public opinion could change. More and more, people are hoping for Google to stumble. And every time they do, the press pounces. And they always point to the motto.
Click to expand...

One of the things that made Google big was indeed that it was a young, innovative, underdog that everyone wanted to see take over the big dominating companies at the time. However they now are a big dominating company, and generally the bigger you are the more you're going to stick with the status quo and become less innovative--a la Microsoft, AOL, etc.

In the attempts that Google has tried to be real innovative, outside of search and e-mail, it has failed generally. From its social neworking site, Orkut, to its IM program, and its answers site that faild to Yahoo's...Google's attempts at "getting with the times" haven't been great successes so far. In the internet age it's all about innovation and jumping on the next big thing, and I do feel confident with all the darts they're throwing out there that eventually they'll hit the bullseye that will keep them going.

The press, and now the bloggers are always looking to jump on the bandwagon and bash what's hot, and I think people will eventually tire of doing that to MS or Sony, and it seems like Google may be the next major target. Being a public company also makes it more difficult to really innovate and be creative, as you have your shareholders to satisfy on top of your all important user base, as well as the the media/bloggers..
Click to expand...

Google has had failures, that's for sure. But they have had some awesome innovations. Google Earth, Gmail and Google Maps are three that I use/see all over the web.
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
Click to expand...
What does that have to do with being not-evil?
Click to expand...

outside of search and e-mail, it has failed generally. From its social neworking site, Orkut, to its IM program, and its answers site that faild to Yahoo's...Google's attempts at "getting with the times" haven't been great successes so far.
Click to expand...

 
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
Click to expand...
What does that have to do with being not-evil?
Click to expand...

outside of search and e-mail, it has failed generally. From its social neworking site, Orkut, to its IM program, and its answers site that faild to Yahoo's...Google's attempts at "getting with the times" haven't been great successes so far.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

That's the cool thing about Google. Most of the things they release are FREE and in "BETA", so they can't fail!
 
Originally posted by: thesurge

That's the cool thing about Google. Most of the things they release are FREE and in "BETA", so they can't fail!
Click to expand...

agreed. i dont see how google is evil at all. in my mind, they do stand out as being different from the others.
 
They are not any more evil than any other company chasing the almighty greenback.
The article writer is correct in stating that they seem to of have lost some of their innovative touch.
 
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
Click to expand...

Are your friends techies like yourself? I personally know of no one that uses it. It is not an easy task to get mainstream people to switch IM services, particularly because the only reason you would sign on to a service is to talk to your friends..and if you're the new kid on the block there's little reason for people to switch to it.
 
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
They are not any more evil than any other company chasing the almighty greenback.
The article writer is correct in stating that they seem to of have lost some of their innovative touch.
Click to expand...

Whenever a company become large it always loses some of it innovative spirit. ie The bureaucracy increases with the size of the company making it difficult to change anything.
 
Originally posted by: Syringer
Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
BS, google chat is awesome and everyone i know uses it now instead of AIM. google spreadsheets and docs is awesome and google search is still the only thing most people use.
Click to expand...

Are your friends techies like yourself? I personally know of no one that uses it. It is not an easy task to get mainstream people to switch IM services, particularly because the only reason you would sign on to a service is to talk to your friends..and if you're the new kid on the block there's little reason for people to switch to it.
Click to expand...

good point. however, several of the people i know who use google chat/talk exclusively are not very tech savvy.
 
Originally posted by: artikk
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
They are not any more evil than any other company chasing the almighty greenback.
The article writer is correct in stating that they seem to of have lost some of their innovative touch.
Click to expand...

Whenever a company become large it always loses some of it innovative spirit. ie The bureaucracy increases with the size of the company making it difficult to change anything.
Click to expand...

So imagine how much innovation the U.S. government has with a budget of over $1 trillion a year. lmao.

What you say is true. That's why startups exist, to keep the big guys in check.
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: Syringer
Interesting article

Part of the problem is that Google has always held itself to a higher standard than other companies. We took them seriously when they said their corporate motto is ?Don?t be evil?. It was the right thing to say when they were young and battling the hated Microsoft. But today, as they begin to put themselves before what?s best for their users, that motto is coming back to haunt them.

They can?t redact the motto, of course. They can?t take back those words. Google will forever be held to a higher standard than everyone else, simply because they asked us to.

...

We?ve seen this before. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft were the darlings of the valley back in the late nineties. Just the fact that an entrepreneur got a meeting with one of them was something they brought up in their pitches to venture capitalists. The big three became very arrogant about their positions on the top of the food chain.

...

Now Google is in the position of dominance, and they definitely have the arrogance that goes with it. But they are in a very difficult spot because of that damned motto, and perhaps right on the tipping point where public opinion could change. More and more, people are hoping for Google to stumble. And every time they do, the press pounces. And they always point to the motto.
Click to expand...

One of the things that made Google big was indeed that it was a young, innovative, underdog that everyone wanted to see take over the big dominating companies at the time. However they now are a big dominating company, and generally the bigger you are the more you're going to stick with the status quo and become less innovative--a la Microsoft, AOL, etc.

In the attempts that Google has tried to be real innovative, outside of search and e-mail, it has failed generally. From its social neworking site, Orkut, to its IM program, and its answers site that faild to Yahoo's...Google's attempts at "getting with the times" haven't been great successes so far. In the internet age it's all about innovation and jumping on the next big thing, and I do feel confident with all the darts they're throwing out there that eventually they'll hit the bullseye that will keep them going.

The press, and now the bloggers are always looking to jump on the bandwagon and bash what's hot, and I think people will eventually tire of doing that to MS or Sony, and it seems like Google may be the next major target. Being a public company also makes it more difficult to really innovate and be creative, as you have your shareholders to satisfy on top of your all important user base, as well as the the media/bloggers..
Click to expand...

Google has had failures, that's for sure. But they have had some awesome innovations. Google Earth, Gmail and Google Maps are three that I use/see all over the web.
Click to expand...

Google Earth? You're kidding right? You know that they basically bought that from Keyhole software and have nothing to do with it right?
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: artikk
Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
They are not any more evil than any other company chasing the almighty greenback.
The article writer is correct in stating that they seem to of have lost some of their innovative touch.
Click to expand...

Whenever a company become large it always loses some of it innovative spirit. ie The bureaucracy increases with the size of the company making it difficult to change anything.
Click to expand...

So imagine how much innovation the U.S. government has with a budget of over $1 trillion a year. lmao.

What you say is true. That's why startups exist, to keep the big guys in check.
Click to expand...

Thinking about it it is a very true comparison.
The government of this country was founded by a small group of people with good ideas.
Once it was able to gain a foothold it hasn't stopped growing, now it is so large it gets nothing accomplished and takes billions of $$ to do it.
 
Originally posted by: FilmCamera


Google Earth? You're kidding right? You know that they basically bought that from Keyhole software and have nothing to do with it right?
Click to expand...

They obviously had something to do with it because I never saw 'Keyhole Software Earth' being used by the media/industry and the general public like I see Google Earth being used.
 
Originally posted by: Dissipate
Originally posted by: FilmCamera


Google Earth? You're kidding right? You know that they basically bought that from Keyhole software and have nothing to do with it right?
Click to expand...

They obviously had something to do with it because I never saw 'Keyhole Software Earth' being used by the media/industry and the general public like I see Google Earth being used.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they (a) lowered the price drastically on some of the products and (b) gave it away for free. Of course you see it used more. I worked with the software long before Google bought the company.
 
so big is synonymous with evil now?

i dont care how big or how slowed down their rate of innovation is, they still provide great services to me
 
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