7 ms·
>If you’re over 50 you might just remember the birth of Google, with their famous motto ‘Do No Evil’. I love how people misremember this motto. The original sl
by triangleman 9y ago
>If you’re over 50 you might just remember the birth of Google, with their famous motto ‘Do No Evil’.
I love how people misremember this motto. The original slogan was "Don't be evil" which is quite different and far more subjective to start with. Now they have updated it to "Do the right thing" and you can imagine how easy it is to dance around that.
But people seem to think Larry and Sergey were actually trying to be ethically meticulous. Nonsense--the slogan always had the subtle meaning of "Don't be Microsoft-level evil" and it turns out that was not an easy hurdle to clear.
- choxi 9y agoFacebook changed theirs in 2014 from "Move Fast and Break Things" to "Move Fast with Stable Infrastructure". It's funny how they predictably become vaguer and less controversial.
- CGamesPlay 9y agoWait, is that true? I could see the case for less controversial ("breaking things" can't be universally agreeable, right?), but it certainly seems less vague to me. Anyways, the mission was never either of those. It was "make the world more open and connected" and after the last US election changed to "bring people together".
- jacquesm 9y agoFunny I thought it was 'more profits for Facebook'.
- SkyMarshal 9y ago'... while performing creepy psychological experiments on our users.'
- jacquesm 9y agoI'm glad to see other people remember that. Unbelievable they got away with that.
- timtas 9y agoAt a Facebook office in Austin I saw a poster, "Move Fast and Make Things." I assumed it to be a transitional state to "Move Fast and Don't Screw Up or You're So Fired"
- jacquesm 9y agoIt's been 30 years, memories fade. Fixed. And thank you for pointing this out.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- burkaman 9y agoI think it's similar to Obama's "don't do stupid shit". It's not really supposed to mean anything concrete, it's just a good philosophy for approaching big decisions. I don't know if it works, but I understand the intent.
- timtas 9y agoBoy was that ever vague, considering drone bombing all over Pakistan and Yemen clipping a few hundred civilians cleared the "not stupid shit" bar.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- 2OEH8eoCRo 9y agoIn which ways was Microsoft evil?
- fragmede 9y agoThe tv movie Pirates of Silicon Valley has a decent (if dramaticized) take on the birth of the personal computer, of which Microsoft, and its misdeeds, played a huge part in shaping for its own benefit. Microsoft under Bill Gates abused their monopoly position numerous times to force uptake of their own product which was often vastly inferior.