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This seems hilarious to me, sounds like an outcome of a good prank. Why exactly does Google need to apologize to these users? What are they gonna do, switch to

by Grue3 11y ago

This seems hilarious to me, sounds like an outcome of a good prank. Why exactly does Google need to apologize to these users? What are they gonna do, switch to Hotmail? When you're as big as Google, you can completely shut down entire services like Google Reader and get away with it.

cauterized 11y ago
Maybe they don't need to apologize to the users tweeting at them. But maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally?
- whitegrape 11y ago
  If it actually happened, that's both pretty hilarious and sad for all parties involved. The unintentional fallout has been much more amusing to witness than the actual gimmick of putting a Minion in everyone's email. I can't get on board the tear train of "victimized by technology, technology maker should make amends!" when the impact of victimization is so small, even the "lost my job because technology maker and especially my boss are retarded" is pretty low-impact. I generally have the attitude of "Sucks, but get on with life" to a lot of things, though.
- grahamburger 11y ago
  I can't possibly imagine someone being fired for this, it would be so easy to explain away. It was very literally in every sense of the word not the fault of the sender. I guess if you were already in the habit of sending nasty emails and then send this it could break the camel's back. Otherwise if this got someone fired I'd say the lion's share of the blame goes to the person doing the firing, with just a tiny portion going back to Google.
- simoncion 11y ago
  > But maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally? Yeah, I'm waiting for Snopes to weigh in on that one.
- djrogers 11y ago
  > maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally? I would be willing to wager large sums of money that this didn't happen, and even larger sums that if it did, it was resolved in about 18 seconds, and the person is still employed come Monday (with a good laugh to share with coworkers).
  - CamperBob2 11y ago
    Even with at-will employment in the US, when someone gets fired it often comes at the end of a lengthy and combative process. Picking up the last straw may not bring the proverbial camel back to life, if your manager was already looking for an excuse to get rid of you.
CamperBob2 11y ago
Yes, and that's emblematic of a significant power imbalance between the service provider and its users. If you use GMail or any of their other services, you're just one hundreds of millions of sharecroppers on Google's plantation. One of the attributes of a good harmless practical joke is that it doesn't call attention to deeper, unsettling truths like that.

by Grue3 11y ago

cauterized 11y ago

Maybe they don't need to apologize to the users tweeting at them. But maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally?

whitegrape 11y ago
If it actually happened, that's both pretty hilarious and sad for all parties involved. The unintentional fallout has been much more amusing to witness than the actual gimmick of putting a Minion in everyone's email. I can't get on board the tear train of "victimized by technology, technology maker should make amends!" when the impact of victimization is so small, even the "lost my job because technology maker and especially my boss are retarded" is pretty low-impact. I generally have the attitude of "Sucks, but get on with life" to a lot of things, though.
grahamburger 11y ago
I can't possibly imagine someone being fired for this, it would be so easy to explain away. It was very literally in every sense of the word not the fault of the sender. I guess if you were already in the habit of sending nasty emails and then send this it could break the camel's back. Otherwise if this got someone fired I'd say the lion's share of the blame goes to the person doing the firing, with just a tiny portion going back to Google.
simoncion 11y ago
> But maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally? Yeah, I'm waiting for Snopes to weigh in on that one.
djrogers 11y ago
> maybe you heard about people who, for instance, got fired because they hit this accidentally? I would be willing to wager large sums of money that this didn't happen, and even larger sums that if it did, it was resolved in about 18 seconds, and the person is still employed come Monday (with a good laugh to share with coworkers).
- CamperBob2 11y ago
  Even with at-will employment in the US, when someone gets fired it often comes at the end of a lengthy and combative process. Picking up the last straw may not bring the proverbial camel back to life, if your manager was already looking for an excuse to get rid of you.

CamperBob2 11y ago

Yes, and that's emblematic of a significant power imbalance between the service provider and its users. If you use GMail or any of their other services, you're just one hundreds of millions of sharecroppers on Google's plantation. One of the attributes of a good harmless practical joke is that it doesn't call attention to deeper, unsettling truths like that.