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It's not just email, it seems like any service is at risk of being ignored through malice or just being too tiny it gets neglected if it doesn't help the walled

It's not just email, it seems like any service is at risk of being ignored through malice or just being too tiny it gets neglected if it doesn't help the walled garden somehow. At one point I heard a rumor that no human had worked on Google Finance in over a year, simply because nobody was interested. Not their biggest service of course, but still a major site that presumably generates a lot of revenue. If they think that global finance is "too boring" for their amazing engineers then support for everything is liable to be canceled at any moment.

Kalium 7y ago
> but still a major site that presumably generates a lot of revenue That's very possible! It's definitely an amazing site and it's absolutely clear that it could drive revenue. With that said, perhaps it might be like Google News, where it not only doesn't generate profits, but doesn't generate any revenue at all? Is it possible that being a major site and generating revenue might be entirely distinct?
- oldjokes 7y ago
  There's no need to be nasty and sarcastic.
  - Kalium 7y ago
    Please accept my heartfelt apologies! I can see I was unclear in my genuineness. Let me restate. It is, in my opinion, possible that Google Finance is in a position like that of Google News and thus generates no revenue. Have you considered this possibility? Do you think it might affect the willingness of people to work on a product? If I'm utterly wrong, I would love to know so that I can avoid being wrong this way in the future.
    - Balgair 7y ago
      Kalium, I'm going against my better judgement here, but I'm hoping that you are trying to apologize for real. As such, more feedback may be useful to you. You tend to do this a lot and it does come off as very sarcastic, mocking, and/or un-genuine. As in, like, every sixth comment you leave. Usually, you say something like : "You're right!" or "You're totally correct!" and then you exaggerate the point the person was trying to make, so much so that it comes off as mocking the comment and the person. If you are mocking them, stop. It doesn't add anything to the conversation. You are a pretty quick and sharp person, and you make a lot of very good points. So that's why I'm leaving this comment at all. You may just not realize that this is what you are doing. I'm hoping that you just haven't seen that your style of commenting is coming across very badly. But if you are trying to do this on purpose, stop it.
      - Kalium 7y ago
        Thank you. I appreciate your points. I have seen it go over badly. I've also seen it go over very well. The running total so far seems to favor the latter. I'm working mainly from Dale Carnegie. The core thesis is this: never tell someone that they're wrong. Instead, start by finding a way to tell them how right they are on a point you genuinely agree with. Once you've satisfied someone's ego, it becomes possible to engage with their intellect. This can be tricky, especially when someone's main point is something you disagree with. I sincerely doubt that "What if all your stated assumptions are wrong?" would have been well-received. That's exactly the kind of comment that tends to get a defensive response rather a thoughtful one. My apology was genuine. I had no reason to be nasty, mocking, or sarcastic to this person. I was hoping that they might be willing to re-examine their stated assumptions. I failed to sufficiently hedge against a sarcastic reading. Which is admittedly a difficult task in a text-based medium centered mainly around a language and culture that uses sarcasm heavily. I've yet to find a way to reliably do this. I do appreciate your feedback. It's a work in progress.
  - mikestew 7y ago
    I've reread it a couple of times, and I fail to see the malicious intent. You assume Google Finance makes revenue. The reply simply asks, what if it doesn't?
    - Kalium 7y ago
      It's understandable. It's very easy for people to read questions challenging them as malicious and pointedly sarcastic, implying that of course the person is wrong.

Kalium 7y ago

> but still a major site that presumably generates a lot of revenue That's very possible! It's definitely an amazing site and it's absolutely clear that it could drive revenue. With that said, perhaps it might be like Google News, where it not only doesn't generate profits, but doesn't generate any revenue at all? Is it possible that being a major site and generating revenue might be entirely distinct?

oldjokes 7y ago
There's no need to be nasty and sarcastic.
- Kalium 7y ago
  Please accept my heartfelt apologies! I can see I was unclear in my genuineness. Let me restate. It is, in my opinion, possible that Google Finance is in a position like that of Google News and thus generates no revenue. Have you considered this possibility? Do you think it might affect the willingness of people to work on a product? If I'm utterly wrong, I would love to know so that I can avoid being wrong this way in the future.
  - Balgair 7y ago
    Kalium, I'm going against my better judgement here, but I'm hoping that you are trying to apologize for real. As such, more feedback may be useful to you. You tend to do this a lot and it does come off as very sarcastic, mocking, and/or un-genuine. As in, like, every sixth comment you leave. Usually, you say something like : "You're right!" or "You're totally correct!" and then you exaggerate the point the person was trying to make, so much so that it comes off as mocking the comment and the person. If you are mocking them, stop. It doesn't add anything to the conversation. You are a pretty quick and sharp person, and you make a lot of very good points. So that's why I'm leaving this comment at all. You may just not realize that this is what you are doing. I'm hoping that you just haven't seen that your style of commenting is coming across very badly. But if you are trying to do this on purpose, stop it.
    - Kalium 7y ago
      Thank you. I appreciate your points. I have seen it go over badly. I've also seen it go over very well. The running total so far seems to favor the latter. I'm working mainly from Dale Carnegie. The core thesis is this: never tell someone that they're wrong. Instead, start by finding a way to tell them how right they are on a point you genuinely agree with. Once you've satisfied someone's ego, it becomes possible to engage with their intellect. This can be tricky, especially when someone's main point is something you disagree with. I sincerely doubt that "What if all your stated assumptions are wrong?" would have been well-received. That's exactly the kind of comment that tends to get a defensive response rather a thoughtful one. My apology was genuine. I had no reason to be nasty, mocking, or sarcastic to this person. I was hoping that they might be willing to re-examine their stated assumptions. I failed to sufficiently hedge against a sarcastic reading. Which is admittedly a difficult task in a text-based medium centered mainly around a language and culture that uses sarcasm heavily. I've yet to find a way to reliably do this. I do appreciate your feedback. It's a work in progress.
- mikestew 7y ago
  I've reread it a couple of times, and I fail to see the malicious intent. You assume Google Finance makes revenue. The reply simply asks, what if it doesn't?
  - Kalium 7y ago
    It's understandable. It's very easy for people to read questions challenging them as malicious and pointedly sarcastic, implying that of course the person is wrong.