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I agree that unions were important, at one time. However technology is at a point where large enough companies can simply engineer around the human resources p

I agree that unions were important, at one time. However technology is at a point where large enough companies can simply engineer around the human resources problem if they want to. So bringing a company like Google's feet to the fire will only make them want to cut you out of their supply chain. Your "bargaining power" is short term. Merely until Google can find another way to subvert you with technology. In the industrial revolution Unions had bargaining power because they offered a valuable service that you couldn't live without. Today there is no problem that technology can't solve with the right amount of funding.

Apocryphon 7y ago
Your last line writes the whole enterprise off, because politics and bureaucracy is a very real challenge. Google can automate away service workers in the same way they can fix their product organization issues, reduce fragmentation of Android, improve their hardware offerings, stop the endless churn of their products ending up in the Google Graveyard, etc. That is, you can say they can do anything with their resources, but it’s a paper tiger because the organization simply does not have the will nor interest to engage in such efforts, not when they have other priorities they’re focused on. So perhaps they’ll simply pay their workers.
- zelon88 7y ago
  That's why Google is alphabet now. So they can absorb and develop different liabilities at once. Android isn't broken because Google doesn't care. It's broken because the team is fatigued. They reached their max potential. It will take a new team with new ideas for significant iteration. You can't add a junior dev to the android team and expect massive improvements anymore. That being said, there isn't a lot of low hanging fruit left in android. But the cafeteria, I'm sure, has a long way to go and a lot that could be reduced. IF the costs continue to rise, that is.
  - Apocryphon 7y ago
    > It's broken because the team is fatigued. They reached their max potential. It will take a new team with new ideas for significant iteration. You can't add a junior dev to the android team and expect massive improvements anymore. Hm, but I thought that today technology can solve any problem so long as we gave it the right amount of funding? Including human resources problems? > IF the costs continue to rise, that is. As pointed out elsewhere in this discussion, a megacorp with Alphabet's net income can surely swallow the cost. They have bigger things to fund.

Apocryphon 7y ago

Your last line writes the whole enterprise off, because politics and bureaucracy is a very real challenge. Google can automate away service workers in the same way they can fix their product organization issues, reduce fragmentation of Android, improve their hardware offerings, stop the endless churn of their products ending up in the Google Graveyard, etc. That is, you can say they can do anything with their resources, but it’s a paper tiger because the organization simply does not have the will nor interest to engage in such efforts, not when they have other priorities they’re focused on. So perhaps they’ll simply pay their workers.

zelon88 7y ago
That's why Google is alphabet now. So they can absorb and develop different liabilities at once. Android isn't broken because Google doesn't care. It's broken because the team is fatigued. They reached their max potential. It will take a new team with new ideas for significant iteration. You can't add a junior dev to the android team and expect massive improvements anymore. That being said, there isn't a lot of low hanging fruit left in android. But the cafeteria, I'm sure, has a long way to go and a lot that could be reduced. IF the costs continue to rise, that is.
- Apocryphon 7y ago
  > It's broken because the team is fatigued. They reached their max potential. It will take a new team with new ideas for significant iteration. You can't add a junior dev to the android team and expect massive improvements anymore. Hm, but I thought that today technology can solve any problem so long as we gave it the right amount of funding? Including human resources problems? > IF the costs continue to rise, that is. As pointed out elsewhere in this discussion, a megacorp with Alphabet's net income can surely swallow the cost. They have bigger things to fund.