22 ms·

$0.02: I honestly feel that Google's CEO being Indian hastened the adoption. In India, Sundar Pichai is a celebrity. There are billboards, advertisements, and t

$0.02: I honestly feel that Google's CEO being Indian hastened the adoption. In India, Sundar Pichai is a celebrity. There are billboards, advertisements, and the whole country is cheering for him, a "local". There is more to it than this (of course), but I think that the community view Google through the friendly face that is their CEO, while viewing Facebook as the big blue tech conglomerate which that have become.

parthdesai 10y ago
To add to your point, facebook's whole internet.org thing didn't help them in India as well. Majority of the tech-literate population was against that.
ethanbond 10y ago
It probably didn't hurt. And it definitely didn't hurt as much as Zuckerberg's nearly colonialist attitude towards the Indian people and their government.
- DSingularity 10y ago
  Whoa. How is it nearly colonialist?
  - kelukelugames 10y ago
    The only thing I saw was Marc's tweet about India being better under British rule.
    - tamana 10y ago
      That was Marc Andreessen, not Mark Zuckerberg. Marc A is on FB's board, though, and sadly a parody of his former self -- classic case of someone who got rich for luckily being in the right place at the wrong time, and coming out thinking he is a god.
  - ethanbond 10y ago
    Basically when the Indians started to sway against him, his PR campaign boiled down to, "we know what's best for you." It's not a popular stance for a rich white westerner to take towards a previously (abusively) colonized country. Well, or anyone else. But especially not them.
  - senthil_rajasek 10y ago
    There was a huge controversy when Facebook announced free basics. Here is a good source if you want to know more, http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/12/466506966/colonialism-comment-puts-facebook-under-scrutiny http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/12/466...
- sonink 10y ago
  I didnt have a problem with facebooks effort, till I saw the patronizing ads they put out. Zuck read India wrong or maybe it was Marc - either which ways India will be closed for anything like this for facebook now. Maybe Zuck needs to work harder on his Chinese, not that its going to help when that mirage unfolds.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    Facebook can expect to receive the same treatment in China as Uber did.
    - DarthMader 10y ago
      Or Google
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
throwaway_45 10y ago
A lot of indians who come to this country never want to go back to india. They seem to kind of hate their country. So the fact Indians are celebrating someone who made it out is quite ironic.
- geodel 10y ago
  Any person of Indian origin successful in west becomes local celebrity unless that person makes his dislike for India very public. India as a nation has very few contemporary role models to look up to so either they resort to mythology or look for successful PIO in west.
  - shripadk 10y ago
    Not true at all. We have a lot of contemporary role models to look up to. In fact I can bet that 99% of Indians know nothing about Sundar Pichai. However, I can also bet that 99% would have heard of J.R.D Tata, Kirloskar, Narayan Murthy or Azim Premji. Have you heard of any of these people? I'm sure you haven't. These are local celebrities in India, not Sundar Pichai. For us, an Indian going abroad and making it has a different charm. That's all. It does not suddenly accord him a celebrity status and put him on par with the likes of Tatas, Kirloskars etc. Don't look too much into it.
- r00fus 10y ago
  A lot? A phase that doesn't have perspective... What about their families and general patriotism and kinship with their birthplace?
- singhrk 10y ago
  Indian here. Not true, most of us love our country. And people do love to go back. Relocation in general is tough, once you have a family and kids going to school, its really tough to go back
  - throwaway_45 10y ago
    You can't raise a family in india? Once you get used to that 150k salary you ain't going back. Pretty much all my cousins and stuff are trying to get out of the country. I am not going to blame you are anyone else trying to make it, but I find it quite hypocritical that Indian publications glorify people who have pretty much left the country for good.
nnain 10y ago
I stay in New Delhi and visit Bangalore often. Don't remember seeing Sundar Pichai on a single public Billboard or Ad. Go on with your fantasy stories!
ganeshkrishnan 10y ago
Yes that's true that him being an Indian hastened the adoption but mostly because he knew what the pain points were and how best to get started. However, he is hardly a celebrity in India. Google has been popular here much before he became a CEO. Also what damaged FB was the tweet by Marc :http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2016/02/10/marc-andreessen-unwittingly-likens-facebook-free-basics-to-colonialism-kicks-up-india-twitter-storm/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2016/02/10/marc-andre... Directly implying that India was better off colonized.
- nnain 10y ago
  That tweet, omg! Marc Andreessen got hit so hard because of it that he apologized on his Twitter account and said he won't participate on any political discussion about India again. I like his work, but the particular tweet was grotesque. However the tweet came late. The activism against FB's Free Basics was in full force already.
plinkplonk 10y ago
I live in India and have never seen Pichai on a billboard. Any references to this phenomenon?
alecsmart1 10y ago
This is 100% untrue. 99.9% of the population has no idea who Sundar Pichai is. There are absolutely no billboards or advertisements about him.
shripadk 10y ago
I haven't seen a single billboard of Sundar Pichai in India. Stop spreading lies.
- RhodesianHunter 10y ago
  Unless you've walked every street in India, what right do you have to call them a liar? I would be willing to be that there are at least two such billboards somewhere in the country, making his statement factual.
  - shripadk 10y ago
    I am willing to bet that there are none. You'll find billboards of politicians, bollywood celebrities or businesses at the max. Billboards are expensive. I'm sure even Sundar Pichai wouldn't want his photo plastered on a billboard anywhere... especially in India.
  - shripadk 10y ago
    Have you seen a billboard of Sundar Pichai in the US? If you haven't, then why would you expect to see one in India? He is no celebrity here. We are proud of the fact that he achieved a lot. But that does not mean he automatically achieves stardom.
- starmilk 10y ago
  My bad! I read a biographical article on him and that was what was said. Sorry I can't edit it. :/
  - shripadk 10y ago
    No worries. Can you, if possible, point me to the article so I can see who wrote it? Typically you never find billboards of founders/CEOs etc in India and if there is one that is a first.

parthdesai 10y ago

To add to your point, facebook's whole internet.org thing didn't help them in India as well. Majority of the tech-literate population was against that.

ethanbond 10y ago

It probably didn't hurt. And it definitely didn't hurt as much as Zuckerberg's nearly colonialist attitude towards the Indian people and their government.

DSingularity 10y ago
Whoa. How is it nearly colonialist?
- kelukelugames 10y ago
  The only thing I saw was Marc's tweet about India being better under British rule.
  - tamana 10y ago
    That was Marc Andreessen, not Mark Zuckerberg. Marc A is on FB's board, though, and sadly a parody of his former self -- classic case of someone who got rich for luckily being in the right place at the wrong time, and coming out thinking he is a god.
- ethanbond 10y ago
  Basically when the Indians started to sway against him, his PR campaign boiled down to, "we know what's best for you." It's not a popular stance for a rich white westerner to take towards a previously (abusively) colonized country. Well, or anyone else. But especially not them.
- senthil_rajasek 10y ago
  There was a huge controversy when Facebook announced free basics. Here is a good source if you want to know more, http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/12/466506966/colonialism-comment-puts-facebook-under-scrutiny http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/02/12/466...
sonink 10y ago
I didnt have a problem with facebooks effort, till I saw the patronizing ads they put out. Zuck read India wrong or maybe it was Marc - either which ways India will be closed for anything like this for facebook now. Maybe Zuck needs to work harder on his Chinese, not that its going to help when that mirage unfolds.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Facebook can expect to receive the same treatment in China as Uber did.
  - DarthMader 10y ago
    Or Google
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

throwaway_45 10y ago

A lot of indians who come to this country never want to go back to india. They seem to kind of hate their country. So the fact Indians are celebrating someone who made it out is quite ironic.

geodel 10y ago
Any person of Indian origin successful in west becomes local celebrity unless that person makes his dislike for India very public. India as a nation has very few contemporary role models to look up to so either they resort to mythology or look for successful PIO in west.
- shripadk 10y ago
  Not true at all. We have a lot of contemporary role models to look up to. In fact I can bet that 99% of Indians know nothing about Sundar Pichai. However, I can also bet that 99% would have heard of J.R.D Tata, Kirloskar, Narayan Murthy or Azim Premji. Have you heard of any of these people? I'm sure you haven't. These are local celebrities in India, not Sundar Pichai. For us, an Indian going abroad and making it has a different charm. That's all. It does not suddenly accord him a celebrity status and put him on par with the likes of Tatas, Kirloskars etc. Don't look too much into it.
r00fus 10y ago
A lot? A phase that doesn't have perspective... What about their families and general patriotism and kinship with their birthplace?
singhrk 10y ago
Indian here. Not true, most of us love our country. And people do love to go back. Relocation in general is tough, once you have a family and kids going to school, its really tough to go back
- throwaway_45 10y ago
  You can't raise a family in india? Once you get used to that 150k salary you ain't going back. Pretty much all my cousins and stuff are trying to get out of the country. I am not going to blame you are anyone else trying to make it, but I find it quite hypocritical that Indian publications glorify people who have pretty much left the country for good.

nnain 10y ago

I stay in New Delhi and visit Bangalore often. Don't remember seeing Sundar Pichai on a single public Billboard or Ad. Go on with your fantasy stories!

ganeshkrishnan 10y ago

Yes that's true that him being an Indian hastened the adoption but mostly because he knew what the pain points were and how best to get started. However, he is hardly a celebrity in India. Google has been popular here much before he became a CEO. Also what damaged FB was the tweet by Marc :http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2016/02/10/marc-andreessen-unwittingly-likens-facebook-free-basics-to-colonialism-kicks-up-india-twitter-storm/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2016/02/10/marc-andre... Directly implying that India was better off colonized.

nnain 10y ago
That tweet, omg! Marc Andreessen got hit so hard because of it that he apologized on his Twitter account and said he won't participate on any political discussion about India again. I like his work, but the particular tweet was grotesque. However the tweet came late. The activism against FB's Free Basics was in full force already.

plinkplonk 10y ago

I live in India and have never seen Pichai on a billboard. Any references to this phenomenon?

alecsmart1 10y ago

This is 100% untrue. 99.9% of the population has no idea who Sundar Pichai is. There are absolutely no billboards or advertisements about him.

shripadk 10y ago

I haven't seen a single billboard of Sundar Pichai in India. Stop spreading lies.

RhodesianHunter 10y ago
Unless you've walked every street in India, what right do you have to call them a liar? I would be willing to be that there are at least two such billboards somewhere in the country, making his statement factual.
- shripadk 10y ago
  I am willing to bet that there are none. You'll find billboards of politicians, bollywood celebrities or businesses at the max. Billboards are expensive. I'm sure even Sundar Pichai wouldn't want his photo plastered on a billboard anywhere... especially in India.
- shripadk 10y ago
  Have you seen a billboard of Sundar Pichai in the US? If you haven't, then why would you expect to see one in India? He is no celebrity here. We are proud of the fact that he achieved a lot. But that does not mean he automatically achieves stardom.
starmilk 10y ago
My bad! I read a biographical article on him and that was what was said. Sorry I can't edit it. :/
- shripadk 10y ago
  No worries. Can you, if possible, point me to the article so I can see who wrote it? Typically you never find billboards of founders/CEOs etc in India and if there is one that is a first.