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It's funny how corporate marketing works. For a long time I used to really love their products and their processes. Maybe it was when they got rid of "don't be

It's funny how corporate marketing works. For a long time I used to really love their products and their processes. Maybe it was when they got rid of "don't be evil" but at some point they started turning into just another corporation. A corporation with a ton of resources and a ton of people's information. Anyway I don't want to go into a rant but lately everything they do even the open source stuff is just to further their agenda and seldom to help the community.

nixos 10y ago
As far as I remember, it was around when Google+ came out. Google started as a technology company for nerds. Remember when Google broke all "rules" when their website was a simple image, input, and two buttons? Then they were into open standards, tech innovation, and where the company was run by engineers, and not media people (see Yahoo). The result was a focus on UX and not design. Unfortunately, around when Google+ came out, they decided they're done with that, and became a "company for the masses". XMPP integration - dead Open Source apps - dead They're back to bloat (just JS instead of animated GIFs and Flash), "beauty" over "UX", closed source apps (remember when most apps put out by Google were open source? Remember the shock that Picasso wasn't?)
- SquareWheel 10y ago
  >remember when most apps put out by Google were open source? Most still are. Look at their github. They release an insane amount of OS code. https://github.com/google/ https://github.com/google/ https://github.com/chromium/ https://github.com/chromium/ The only thing they really don't open source are web services (Gmail, search) - probably both for competitive reasons but also because it ties in too deeply with their infrastructure. Chromium and Android being their two largest projects are OS though, and thousands of tools and libraries that they've built. Also TensorFlow, their newest machine learning library.
mrb 10y ago
"Don't be evil" was and still is in the Google code of conduct. Source: https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html
- stephenr 10y ago
  Their actions don't really follow that concept and haven't for a while
  - mrb 10y ago
    Why?
a_imho 10y ago
Maybe I'm stretching a bit, but Snowden was the nail in the coffin. Even if you are American, it is very hard to define evil in a such a way to defend their participation in PRISM. That code of conduct just make it worse they were caught red handed, and I can very much understand people who completely lost their trust in the company.
- bilbobeer 10y ago
  I know its for the money, but these people who work for facebook, microsoft, and google. All these are is CIA/NSA fronts for world control. Sure they make $150K/year+, and so did Snowden. Sure they can live in Silicon Valley and take a google bus to their SF flat, sure so what? There will come a time, when all these over-paid fascist's who work for Google-etc, will be seen for what they are, traitors to their society. Enablers of Fascism in the USA. Most people who work for the CIA/NSA, especially technical people are thrilled to work with the smartest and best and brightest, but so did Hitler put together the smartest and brightest, and by way of "operation paperclip" they were brought to USA to create NASA, and what is now NSA/CIA. Eventually these elite overstep their bounds of humanity and decency. Then they slip into hell as they deserve. The common response here on HN is well if your honest you have nothing to lose. What they really mean is that if you ride a google bus to work, and wear a badge you have nothing to fear. The truth is if your just a regular person going about his/her personal business you have a lot to fear. Most of the data sold by GOOGLE is used for criminal purposes. For instance police seizure of personal property in USA now exceeds that stole by 'criminals'. Who are the biggest criminals in the USA? Well they're are own government. Who enables these criminals? Who provides the data, names and addresses of people to rob, rape, and imprison? Google, Microsoft, Oracle, ... you know who.
- dTal 10y ago
  I was not aware of any voluntary cooperation with the NSA on the part of Google - indeed, the NSA rather famously hacked Google's internal fiber links. If Google was handing them data, why would they need to do that?

nixos 10y ago

As far as I remember, it was around when Google+ came out. Google started as a technology company for nerds. Remember when Google broke all "rules" when their website was a simple image, input, and two buttons? Then they were into open standards, tech innovation, and where the company was run by engineers, and not media people (see Yahoo). The result was a focus on UX and not design. Unfortunately, around when Google+ came out, they decided they're done with that, and became a "company for the masses". XMPP integration - dead Open Source apps - dead They're back to bloat (just JS instead of animated GIFs and Flash), "beauty" over "UX", closed source apps (remember when most apps put out by Google were open source? Remember the shock that Picasso wasn't?)

SquareWheel 10y ago
>remember when most apps put out by Google were open source? Most still are. Look at their github. They release an insane amount of OS code. https://github.com/google/ https://github.com/google/ https://github.com/chromium/ https://github.com/chromium/ The only thing they really don't open source are web services (Gmail, search) - probably both for competitive reasons but also because it ties in too deeply with their infrastructure. Chromium and Android being their two largest projects are OS though, and thousands of tools and libraries that they've built. Also TensorFlow, their newest machine learning library.

mrb 10y ago

"Don't be evil" was and still is in the Google code of conduct. Source: https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html https://abc.xyz/investor/other/google-code-of-conduct.html

stephenr 10y ago
Their actions don't really follow that concept and haven't for a while
- mrb 10y ago
  Why?

a_imho 10y ago

Maybe I'm stretching a bit, but Snowden was the nail in the coffin. Even if you are American, it is very hard to define evil in a such a way to defend their participation in PRISM. That code of conduct just make it worse they were caught red handed, and I can very much understand people who completely lost their trust in the company.

bilbobeer 10y ago
I know its for the money, but these people who work for facebook, microsoft, and google. All these are is CIA/NSA fronts for world control. Sure they make $150K/year+, and so did Snowden. Sure they can live in Silicon Valley and take a google bus to their SF flat, sure so what? There will come a time, when all these over-paid fascist's who work for Google-etc, will be seen for what they are, traitors to their society. Enablers of Fascism in the USA. Most people who work for the CIA/NSA, especially technical people are thrilled to work with the smartest and best and brightest, but so did Hitler put together the smartest and brightest, and by way of "operation paperclip" they were brought to USA to create NASA, and what is now NSA/CIA. Eventually these elite overstep their bounds of humanity and decency. Then they slip into hell as they deserve. The common response here on HN is well if your honest you have nothing to lose. What they really mean is that if you ride a google bus to work, and wear a badge you have nothing to fear. The truth is if your just a regular person going about his/her personal business you have a lot to fear. Most of the data sold by GOOGLE is used for criminal purposes. For instance police seizure of personal property in USA now exceeds that stole by 'criminals'. Who are the biggest criminals in the USA? Well they're are own government. Who enables these criminals? Who provides the data, names and addresses of people to rob, rape, and imprison? Google, Microsoft, Oracle, ... you know who.
dTal 10y ago
I was not aware of any voluntary cooperation with the NSA on the part of Google - indeed, the NSA rather famously hacked Google's internal fiber links. If Google was handing them data, why would they need to do that?