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Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Becomes Alphabet’s ‘Do the Right Thing’
- eridius 11y ago> follow the law It's kind of depressing that companies feel they need to put this in their code of conduct.
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoSeems like they're starting off with this new statement on a sour note since half the major governments in the world are investigating them right now for violating antitrust law.
- jameshart 11y agoFollow which law? The EU law about preventing access to private data? The US law about permitting government agency access to data? The Chinese law about preventing access to certain opinions?
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoWell, if Google purports to uphold the law, all of the above. It has to operate legally in every country it wants to do business. In this case, I was speaking of antitrust though, where Google has used contracts that cross the line to exert control over the industry.
- etiam 11y ago“should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.” I actually hope the latter part is to be seen as examples of the spirit of the first part rather than a definition. Where a company of grand designs and power, like Alphabet, is concerned there may easily come times when a the version needed would read more like “follow the law, unless the law codifies immoral action”
- mtgx 11y agoI read it as "follow the local government's law, regardless of what that law says or what it enables the governments to do against their citizens - so we can thrive in China, Russia, India, etc".
- outside1234 11y agoActions speak louder than words.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoSelf-driving cars, sparked by Google, are going to save a million lives a year. Those are actions.
- ocdtrekkie 11y ago*By tracking every single one of them. Which is, pretty much, evil.
- Oletros 11y agoYes, it is pretty clear that you hate some companies. you don't have to show it in every thread.
- RodericDay 11y agoMan, the corporate fanboyism on HN always gets me.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoI'm not a corporate fanboy, I'm a passionate leftist socialist who gives credit where credit due.
- bashinator 11y agoCan't read the article because of the paywall, but if they're literally using, "Do the Right Thing", that's super super ironic. It's been a while since I've seen it, but if I recall correctly; a major premise of the movie was that characters did not know what the Right Thing was, or whether they were Doing It.
- ma2rten 11y agoCan't read the article because of the paywall You have to put the title of the article in Google and click on it there.
- Mz 11y agoExcerpt: Alphabet’s code doesn’t include that phrase. Instead, it says employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries “should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.”
- Raphmedia 11y agoCorrect me if I'm wrong, but wasn't "Don't be evil" the same? Not official, but respected?
- Mz 11y agoSorry, "Doesn't include that phrase" refers to "Don't be evil", not "Do the right thing." I think you are misinterpreting the quote out of context. Edit: Fuller quote: Google’s code of conduct, of course, is best-known for its first line, which was also included in Google’s 2004 filing for its initial public offering: “Don’t be evil.” Alphabet’s code doesn’t include that phrase. Instead, it says employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries “should do the right thing – follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect.”
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- huntleydavis 11y agoI liked 'Don't Be Evil'. It felt like it was a constant reminder to fight becoming a cliche evil corporation. 'Do the right thing' adds little to no value in terms of being a moral compass to use when expanding the company.
- Spooky23 11y agoDo the right thing is more ambiguous. Righteousness is in the eyes of the beholder.
- icebraining 11y agoSo is evilness.
- ocdtrekkie 11y agoIs that not the point? Corporations are, almost naturally, evil. Trying to not be would be a constant battle. And arguably, Google failed a few years ago already.
- alexandercrohde 11y ago"Do the right thing" defined as “– follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect,” just doesn't feel the same. "Don't Be Evil" appeals to a force above the law, sometimes the law is evil (Nazi Germany). "Do the right thing," implies there is a single right thing which is woefully out of touch with the vast array of choices we have each day that fall all along the moral spectrum. It's cliche; I have trouble not immediately writing it off.
- jbattle 11y agoalso - do the right thing for whom?
- mtgx 11y agoFor the shareholders, I imagine.
- Florin_Andrei 11y agoNo, that's "do the lawful thing". "Do the right thing" falls under ethics.
- mhuffman 11y agoMaybe there is supposed to be an implied, "... for stockholders", at the end ...
- Florin_Andrei 11y agoThen it's filed under "objectivism".
- huac 11y agoYes, 'do good things' is much closer to a true antithesis of 'don't be evil.' Especially with the singular subject. 'Do the right thing,' with its legal implications, almost sounds like, 'we told you to do the right thing, so if you're in trouble, it's your ass on the line.'
- Havoc 11y agoWatered down slogan to go with their watered down attitude towards users/"the product".
- hackuser 11y agoThere are many non-paywalled articles we could use in the link. For example, http://www.cnet.com/au/news/googles-new-holding-company-drops-dont-be-evil/ http://www.cnet.com/au/news/googles-new-holding-company-drop...
- luketych 11y agoYou guys are forgetting that "Don't be evil" is interpreted by a part of the brain as "Be Evil." That was a terrible slogan. "Do the right thing" is much better. When we hear "Don't Be Evil" there is a part of our brains that interprets the part about being evil, the concept of what evil is, and then the logic brain has to jump in and say, "Now don't you do that." It's well known that telling people to "Not smoke" again and again will give them the urge to smoke. And telling your child to not do something will make them want to do it. Why? We believe it's because on an MRI scan most of the brain will light up when interpreting the "Smoke" part (because the brain is conceptualizing what smoking is), whereas only a small part of the brain will light up when trying to apply the negation "Don't" to that concept. If I told you to not picture a white bear....aha, you pictured a white bear! If you want someone to do something, simply keep telling them not to do it.
- Oletros 11y agoGoogle's motto is still "Don't be evil"
- huac 11y agoPhilosophically, I like the focus on 'doing,' purposefully doing things because they are 'right,' rather than not doing things because they are 'evil.' Spinoza, Deleuze, and a few others are pretty good on this. Action will always prevail.
- cwhy 11y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nal3-qRocJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nal3-qRocJI
- rocketraman 11y agoEvery time I hear this, I think "Be a man!" : https://youtu.be/-qtrAMK7_Qk https://youtu.be/-qtrAMK7_Qk