5 ms·

Google boss says 'nobody was harmed' by Buzz debacle

26 points by whyleyc 17y ago

araneae 17y ago
Well, a lot of them were confused. You have to have a public profile for any of your buzzes to be visible, and in order to have a public profile you have to fill it out.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
  - moron4hire 17y ago
    So what are you saying? That the activists proclivity to believe anything they want and ignore the rest gives Google carte blanche to dismiss the real issue, to lie ("no one was harmed", really? How can you be sure?), and belittle the honest complaints, for the sake of PR? Is there no ethics in PR?
fiaz 17y ago
...and in the past, companies used to call bugs "features"
philk 17y ago
I have to say that Eric Schmidt's record on privacy does not inspire confidence.
sushi 17y ago
I think Eric Schmidt doesn't really understand the average user and apparently the large user base who don't give a damn about status updates. The whole strategy to impose Google Buzz was disaster. First things first, you shouldn't really play with one of your favorite product unless you have full faith and knowledge that it will complement. They should have employed the Google Wave strategy to release Buzz or just made Buzz as an opt-in feature and then geeks could use. The change of any kind is intimidating for the normal user and Google should have taken that into account.
jrockway 17y ago
This guy is damaging Google.
- adrianwaj 17y ago
  ..finally decided to jump on the "Poor man's email" bandwagon, using their email system as a base. http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-twitter-a-poor-mans-email-system-2009-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-twitter-a-poor-man...
SamsonHB 17y ago
Anyone else starting to get sick of this guy? I still like Google all around, but the privacy comments were insane.... And the Buzz thing really pissed me off. They are damaging their brand with him being the face of Google. It OK for Google to make mistakes (or what people might perceive as privacy infractions), but at least sound apologetic when you do... Least you could do.
- radu_floricica 17y ago
  I read a lot of controversial Schmidt quotes, but when I occasionally get to the context they're much more benign. It could be that the guy is simply a prime target for this kind of thing.
- mattm 17y ago
  Didn't the "privacy" quote also come from the Guardian? Could there be some kind of bias here you think? Nowhere in his full quotes did he blame users for being confused. "I would say that we did not understand how to communicate Google Buzz and its privacy," he said. "There was a lot of confusion when it came out on Tuesday, and people thought that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." "I think it was our fault that we did not communicate that fact very well, but the important thing is that no really bad stuff happens in the sense that nobody's personal information was disclosed." Be careful not to take news reporting - especially headlines - as fact.
  - SamsonHB 17y ago
    In that context, you're right doesn't sound as menacing. That said "that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." seems like sort actually untrue, indeed. Maybe they weren't displaying emails. But they certainly showed the names of my contacts and pictures. I looked at a contacts computer who had the defaul settings, and could see some of my profile. I guess my point is they should have gone of the side of privacy and caution, but they needed to err on the side of huge social networks (and displaying info helps those build) to sell this product to the public. I just think they made a selfish corporate decision. At least they are trying to remedy it.
moron4hire 17y ago
When dealing with potentially the largest user base in the world, any "confusion" is the fault of the design and development team for not designing, testing, and redesigning a user-friendly (for whatever that term is worth) system. I used to have a female acquaintance who would complain that "all men are assholes, every guy I've ever dated has ended up cheating on me." I had a male acquaintance who would complain that "all women are bitches, they give me their number and then never answer when I call." They both didn't like it too much when I pointed out that each of them were the common denominators in their respective problems. When complaints about your company's approach to privacy pop up in large quantities, what's the common denominator? Thousands of "confused" users who don't understand that their privacy wasn't violated/isn't really important after all, or one company with a wrong-headed approach to privacy? When faced with frequent failure, it's not the world out to get you, it's your own failure. But when you have an agenda to push, like focusing on attractiveness over maturity or integrity, looking for quick access to sex instead of building relationships, or creating a master database of people's preferences to serve them the most uniquely targeted ads that they will be the most likely to click on because you don't have a real product to sell, then you tend to ignore the signals around you and push blindly through.
vaksel 17y ago
I guess he himself was confused. Because when the Picasa buzz hack came out(use Picasa profile to find out a person's email), I posted a link to his Picasa profile, and only a few minutes later it was deleted. So what Eric is saying is that privacy is fine and dandy for him...but the rest of us can go eat cake.
F_J_H 17y ago
Is saying someone is confused about something the same as calling a person "confused"? I think I would be offended if when I was confused about a new feature someone said I was a "confused" person...
- jasonlotito 17y ago
  Good thing he didn't say that then!
  - F_J_H 17y ago
    Exactly my point. The submission's title states that.
Flow 17y ago
Every-time this guy opens his mouth something ignorant and unsympathetic comes out and a bit of my Google-love dies. :-(
TrevorJ 17y ago
Google took the address book of each and every buzz user and made a subset of that data public with little or no warning that this behavior would occur. This is a huge, huge miss step for a company who wants to be the banker for all of your personal data. Trust is everything. Look at how many services Google offers They can know your buying habits, where you live, where you are right now, your credit card number, your friends, your contacts, your browsing habits. If they can't be absolutely trusted with your data it is game over. Period. The end.
lmkg 17y ago
In context the quote isn't as damning as the headline makes it sound, but he still does sound out of touch with a) his user base b) his company's other reactions to the situation c) his company's mission statement. While the rest of Google has been apologizing and fixing things and basically keeping with their image (as much as they can after they messed up so horribly), he's taking the approach of an extraordinarily stereotypical business-exec-suit-corporate-CEO-type. Blame-shifting, saying it's not that big a deal, that sort of hot air.
ryanwaggoner 17y ago
This headline is very misleading. Here's the actual quote: "I would say that we did not understand how to communicate Google Buzz and its privacy," he said. "There was a lot of confusion when it came out on Tuesday, and people thought that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." The context where he's using the the word "confusion" is completely accurate, and in no way makes it sound like he's blaming the user, which is what this headline implies.
bhiggins 17y ago
My biggest lesson from The Design of Everyday Things is that if a lot of people are confused with how something works, it's the designer's fault, not the person's.

26 points by whyleyc 17y ago

Well, a lot of them were confused. You have to have a public profile for any of your buzzes to be visible, and in order to have a public profile you have to fill it out.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
- moron4hire 17y ago
  So what are you saying? That the activists proclivity to believe anything they want and ignore the rest gives Google carte blanche to dismiss the real issue, to lie ("no one was harmed", really? How can you be sure?), and belittle the honest complaints, for the sake of PR? Is there no ethics in PR?

fiaz 17y ago

...and in the past, companies used to call bugs "features"

philk 17y ago

I have to say that Eric Schmidt's record on privacy does not inspire confidence.

sushi 17y ago

I think Eric Schmidt doesn't really understand the average user and apparently the large user base who don't give a damn about status updates. The whole strategy to impose Google Buzz was disaster. First things first, you shouldn't really play with one of your favorite product unless you have full faith and knowledge that it will complement. They should have employed the Google Wave strategy to release Buzz or just made Buzz as an opt-in feature and then geeks could use. The change of any kind is intimidating for the normal user and Google should have taken that into account.

jrockway 17y ago

This guy is damaging Google.

adrianwaj 17y ago
..finally decided to jump on the "Poor man's email" bandwagon, using their email system as a base. http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-twitter-a-poor-mans-email-system-2009-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/google-ceo-twitter-a-poor-man...

SamsonHB 17y ago

Anyone else starting to get sick of this guy? I still like Google all around, but the privacy comments were insane.... And the Buzz thing really pissed me off. They are damaging their brand with him being the face of Google. It OK for Google to make mistakes (or what people might perceive as privacy infractions), but at least sound apologetic when you do... Least you could do.

radu_floricica 17y ago
I read a lot of controversial Schmidt quotes, but when I occasionally get to the context they're much more benign. It could be that the guy is simply a prime target for this kind of thing.
mattm 17y ago
Didn't the "privacy" quote also come from the Guardian? Could there be some kind of bias here you think? Nowhere in his full quotes did he blame users for being confused. "I would say that we did not understand how to communicate Google Buzz and its privacy," he said. "There was a lot of confusion when it came out on Tuesday, and people thought that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." "I think it was our fault that we did not communicate that fact very well, but the important thing is that no really bad stuff happens in the sense that nobody's personal information was disclosed." Be careful not to take news reporting - especially headlines - as fact.
- SamsonHB 17y ago
  In that context, you're right doesn't sound as menacing. That said "that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." seems like sort actually untrue, indeed. Maybe they weren't displaying emails. But they certainly showed the names of my contacts and pictures. I looked at a contacts computer who had the defaul settings, and could see some of my profile. I guess my point is they should have gone of the side of privacy and caution, but they needed to err on the side of huge social networks (and displaying info helps those build) to sell this product to the public. I just think they made a selfish corporate decision. At least they are trying to remedy it.

moron4hire 17y ago

When dealing with potentially the largest user base in the world, any "confusion" is the fault of the design and development team for not designing, testing, and redesigning a user-friendly (for whatever that term is worth) system. I used to have a female acquaintance who would complain that "all men are assholes, every guy I've ever dated has ended up cheating on me." I had a male acquaintance who would complain that "all women are bitches, they give me their number and then never answer when I call." They both didn't like it too much when I pointed out that each of them were the common denominators in their respective problems. When complaints about your company's approach to privacy pop up in large quantities, what's the common denominator? Thousands of "confused" users who don't understand that their privacy wasn't violated/isn't really important after all, or one company with a wrong-headed approach to privacy? When faced with frequent failure, it's not the world out to get you, it's your own failure. But when you have an agenda to push, like focusing on attractiveness over maturity or integrity, looking for quick access to sex instead of building relationships, or creating a master database of people's preferences to serve them the most uniquely targeted ads that they will be the most likely to click on because you don't have a real product to sell, then you tend to ignore the signals around you and push blindly through.

vaksel 17y ago

I guess he himself was confused. Because when the Picasa buzz hack came out(use Picasa profile to find out a person's email), I posted a link to his Picasa profile, and only a few minutes later it was deleted. So what Eric is saying is that privacy is fine and dandy for him...but the rest of us can go eat cake.

F_J_H 17y ago

Is saying someone is confused about something the same as calling a person "confused"? I think I would be offended if when I was confused about a new feature someone said I was a "confused" person...

jasonlotito 17y ago
Good thing he didn't say that then!
- F_J_H 17y ago
  Exactly my point. The submission's title states that.

Flow 17y ago

Every-time this guy opens his mouth something ignorant and unsympathetic comes out and a bit of my Google-love dies. :-(

TrevorJ 17y ago

Google took the address book of each and every buzz user and made a subset of that data public with little or no warning that this behavior would occur. This is a huge, huge miss step for a company who wants to be the banker for all of your personal data. Trust is everything. Look at how many services Google offers They can know your buying habits, where you live, where you are right now, your credit card number, your friends, your contacts, your browsing habits. If they can't be absolutely trusted with your data it is game over. Period. The end.

lmkg 17y ago

In context the quote isn't as damning as the headline makes it sound, but he still does sound out of touch with a) his user base b) his company's other reactions to the situation c) his company's mission statement. While the rest of Google has been apologizing and fixing things and basically keeping with their image (as much as they can after they messed up so horribly), he's taking the approach of an extraordinarily stereotypical business-exec-suit-corporate-CEO-type. Blame-shifting, saying it's not that big a deal, that sort of hot air.

ryanwaggoner 17y ago

This headline is very misleading. Here's the actual quote: "I would say that we did not understand how to communicate Google Buzz and its privacy," he said. "There was a lot of confusion when it came out on Tuesday, and people thought that somehow we were publishing their email addresses and private information, which was not true." The context where he's using the the word "confusion" is completely accurate, and in no way makes it sound like he's blaming the user, which is what this headline implies.

bhiggins 17y ago

My biggest lesson from The Design of Everyday Things is that if a lot of people are confused with how something works, it's the designer's fault, not the person's.