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This is an interesting communications dilemma. I don't think most people have really understood the Google/Alphabet transition. When most people think of "Goog
by mikeash 8y ago
This is an interesting communications dilemma.
I don't think most people have really understood the Google/Alphabet transition. When most people think of "Google" they're actually thinking of Alphabet.
If you say "Google" then you're conveying the correct information using the wrong term. If you say "Alphabet" then you're using the right term but a lot of people won't know what you're talking about. What to do?
This is probably less of a problem on HN than it is for TechCrunch.
- CydeWeys 8y agoI would really hope that everyone on HN knows what Alphabet is by now. If necessary, it can be written as "Alphabet (Google's parent company)". The TechCrunch crowd is pretty similar and should mostly know this too, right?
- blfr 8y agoDon't know about most people but I understand the idea of a holding company. I don't care though. It's still Google because it's the most important part. A synecdoche, not a misconception.
- r3bl 8y agoOut of interest, I searched for the Waymo tag in TechCrunch, and they seem to start the related articles with the following: > Waymo, the former Google self-driving project that spun out to become a business under Alphabet, ... Didn't look through all of them, but couldn't find an instance in which Waymo is represented as Google's Waymo anywhere, let alone in the title.
- antidesitter 8y ago> This is an interesting communications dilemma. I don't think most people have really understood the Google/Alphabet transition. If the media consistently referred to Google as Google and Alphabet as Alphabet, people would learn the difference more quickly. Using one term for the other is just delaying this process and sowing confusion.
- sctb 8y agoGood point, let's try “Alphabet” in the title here instead.