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> what's the point I can think of two answers to that. (1) Why does there have to be a point? How many of the other companies we discuss here have a point, o

> what's the point I can think of two answers to that. (1) Why does there have to be a point? How many of the other companies we discuss here have a point, other than the enrichment of their founders/investors? Personally I loathe the "financial performance is a company's only duty" attitude (which is contrary to the actual law BTW), but if we're going to say companies should have a point then we should apply an equal standard. Facebook should have a point. Google should have a point. Netflix should have a point. $random_startup should have a point. (2) Every time Facebook or Google or anyone else does try to use their huge troves of data and powerful algorithms to be any more than a passive conduit for others' attempts to influence society, they get slammed for it. Some of that is happening right here, right now, in these comments. How do we reconcile "try to do good" with "don't meddle"? We need better answers for that, not just criticism.

simonswords82 9y ago
Good points well made. I think it's safe to say that Google and parent company Alphabet have legitimately, and for the most part positively, changed the world. Just their search facility without all the other "fluff" gives me access to more information than I ever dreamed possible when I was still using Microsoft Encarta as a teenager. They definitely lose points for lacking in transparency and shoddy advertising practices though...no question. I suspect it's very very difficult to do the right thing by the world and keep your shareholders happy. Shareholders care about profit, and that is very rarely aligned with doing good - especially on a global scale! With all due respect to everyone on HN, which of course includes me, I doubt the person who has the answer to that billion dollar question is sat reading this thread.
- dntrkv 9y ago
  And I can say the same about Facebook. They have kept me in touch with friends and family that I would have no relationship with at this point if it wasn't for Facebook's absurd levels of adoption (which is driven by an amazing product, which surprisingly has to be said since a lot of people here on HN like to discredit the technological / design achievements of companies like FB, Twitter, etc...) I mean, you could even argue that the levels of adoption that they have achieved is a hugely positive thing in itself. If those 2B people were scattered across multiple platforms, you would not be able to have one platform which is basically guaranteed to be used by the vast majority of the people you encounter.
joaomacp 9y ago
Google Maps alone has improved the life of me and a lot of my friends/family. Traffic-aware GPS, hours when places are open, hours when places are most and less crowded... It keeps getting better
jerkstate 9y ago
There's another thread going on right now where people are vigorously debating what the point of Blue Apron is, a company with ~1/200 the market cap and ~1/5000 as many users. Google is in a similar position as Facebook as a primary arbiter of information and it's also vigorously debated. I'm not sure if it has ever been true that our arbiters of information were ever truly altruistic and good, but it's hard to imagine that they have ever let us down as badly as they have lately.

simonswords82 9y ago

Good points well made. I think it's safe to say that Google and parent company Alphabet have legitimately, and for the most part positively, changed the world. Just their search facility without all the other "fluff" gives me access to more information than I ever dreamed possible when I was still using Microsoft Encarta as a teenager. They definitely lose points for lacking in transparency and shoddy advertising practices though...no question. I suspect it's very very difficult to do the right thing by the world and keep your shareholders happy. Shareholders care about profit, and that is very rarely aligned with doing good - especially on a global scale! With all due respect to everyone on HN, which of course includes me, I doubt the person who has the answer to that billion dollar question is sat reading this thread.

dntrkv 9y ago
And I can say the same about Facebook. They have kept me in touch with friends and family that I would have no relationship with at this point if it wasn't for Facebook's absurd levels of adoption (which is driven by an amazing product, which surprisingly has to be said since a lot of people here on HN like to discredit the technological / design achievements of companies like FB, Twitter, etc...) I mean, you could even argue that the levels of adoption that they have achieved is a hugely positive thing in itself. If those 2B people were scattered across multiple platforms, you would not be able to have one platform which is basically guaranteed to be used by the vast majority of the people you encounter.

joaomacp 9y ago

Google Maps alone has improved the life of me and a lot of my friends/family. Traffic-aware GPS, hours when places are open, hours when places are most and less crowded... It keeps getting better

jerkstate 9y ago

There's another thread going on right now where people are vigorously debating what the point of Blue Apron is, a company with ~1/200 the market cap and ~1/5000 as many users. Google is in a similar position as Facebook as a primary arbiter of information and it's also vigorously debated. I'm not sure if it has ever been true that our arbiters of information were ever truly altruistic and good, but it's hard to imagine that they have ever let us down as badly as they have lately.