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I wonder if the level of Google isolation could be damaging to the company in the long-term. They seem to provide everything their employees need which allows
by khill 17y ago
I wonder if the level of Google isolation could be damaging to the company in the long-term. They seem to provide everything their employees need which allows the employees to spend more time on campus and interact with their co-workers.
However, I find that some of my best ideas and inspiration come from talking to people outside the technology field. I would be concerned that there's an echo chamber effect that could slant their ideas toward people like themselves instead of people outside Google.
Based on the last couple of sentences, I guess my reaction might just be based on Tim's hyperbole, though.
- samd 17y agoAn echo chamber that might prevent anybody from realizing the privacy implications of exposing people's email contacts to the world?
- brg 17y agoI would say it is becoming a problem. It is turning the company away from doing what is right for the user to doing what is 'good' for the company. For instance in the dl's, any third-party criticism would be quickly followed up belittling the critic's remarks. While disparaging the competition is common of misc-eng in any company, the habit of blaming the user seems more ingrained at Google than elsewhere in my experience. So when someone speaks up, it is immediately dismissed instead of considered.
- jlees 17y agoAn echo chamber that's just as bad if all you do is talk to techies in silicon valley all day long... A lot of people at Google do non-Google things too. I know people training for marathons, doing comedy classes, living in flatshares with 4 artists, etc. But Google's main principle is to design for people like us (everything's tested internally before release), so the cosy bubble isn't all that bad.
- benofsky 17y agoI definitely agree. That's what happened with the Buzz + GMail contacts fiasco. They were testing it internally where everyone knew everyone so had no idea why anyone wouldn't want to have all their email contacts added as friends.