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Part of me can't help but read this a little cynically. They're starting to articulate a shift away from Larry Page's idealistic view of making information uni

Part of me can't help but read this a little cynically. They're starting to articulate a shift away from Larry Page's idealistic view of making information universally accessible and useful and toward tempering expectations about what technology can do. After that they'll pivot increasingly toward a position that lets them justify the drone and censorship programs without the baggage of Page's original naivety. Again, that's an overly cynical take. But it's kind of hard to avoid reading that as a possibility.

yourbandsucks 8y ago
I see it differently. Achieving broad, idealistic goals requires careful and strategic thinking and that's what he's expressing here. I'd argue you're being overly naive rather than overly cynical -- real-world trade offs have downsides, and require deliberation. They're not solvable with sloganeering or absolute purity.
- SquishyPanda23 8y ago
  I'm not sure. He's specifically saying technology can't achieve idealistic goals, even with careful and strategic thinking. It requires "humanity" to achieve those goals. So if idealistic goals aren't achieved, it's not because Google did the wrong thing, it's because Google's users didn't do the right thing. So it's a diversion of responsibility away from Google, which frees them to take a less vision-directed and more financially-directed approach.
  - yourbandsucks 8y ago
    Well, you're right that he's a CEO and of course any communication has been carefully calculated. But that doesn't mean that he's an empty vessel. It sounds like he's thinking about it and trying to weigh upsides against downsides, even if Google would be disproportionately blamed for the downsides.
pokemongoaway 8y ago
Not sure why you're tempering your position by calling it cynical. That's just a judgement. What evdience is there that it is cynical (and inaccurate)? Your analysis is in line with the trend, and few speak up without tempering their critiques. The rise of leftism makes no attempts at tempering it's effects - just like it did not in Russia or China.

yourbandsucks 8y ago

I see it differently. Achieving broad, idealistic goals requires careful and strategic thinking and that's what he's expressing here. I'd argue you're being overly naive rather than overly cynical -- real-world trade offs have downsides, and require deliberation. They're not solvable with sloganeering or absolute purity.

SquishyPanda23 8y ago
I'm not sure. He's specifically saying technology can't achieve idealistic goals, even with careful and strategic thinking. It requires "humanity" to achieve those goals. So if idealistic goals aren't achieved, it's not because Google did the wrong thing, it's because Google's users didn't do the right thing. So it's a diversion of responsibility away from Google, which frees them to take a less vision-directed and more financially-directed approach.
- yourbandsucks 8y ago
  Well, you're right that he's a CEO and of course any communication has been carefully calculated. But that doesn't mean that he's an empty vessel. It sounds like he's thinking about it and trying to weigh upsides against downsides, even if Google would be disproportionately blamed for the downsides.

pokemongoaway 8y ago

Not sure why you're tempering your position by calling it cynical. That's just a judgement. What evdience is there that it is cynical (and inaccurate)? Your analysis is in line with the trend, and few speak up without tempering their critiques. The rise of leftism makes no attempts at tempering it's effects - just like it did not in Russia or China.