4 ms·

Sometimes I genuinely wonder what people expect from one of the world's largest corporations. They aren't the first. There are hundreds of other giant multinati

Sometimes I genuinely wonder what people expect from one of the world's largest corporations. They aren't the first. There are hundreds of other giant multinationals that have been around for generations. Why exactly does anyone expect Google to be different?

zepto 7y ago
Because they claimed to be.
- oh_sigh 7y ago
  Well - they were. Now they're not. Why is that shocking?
  - zepto 7y ago
    Who is shocked?
- catalogia 7y ago
  Many corporations are prone to claiming outlandish things about themselves, so if that's the answer it suggests another question: why did so many people believe this particular corporation that claimed to be unique?
  - zepto 7y ago
    The were far more serious about it - is wasn’t just a casual claim.
- standardUser 7y ago
  I tend to agree. The entire "Don't Be Evil" thing planted a bizarre idea in a lot of people's heads that this particular faceless corporate giant would be different and better.
  - sumedh 7y ago
    > The entire "Don't Be Evil" thing planted a bizarre idea in a lot of people's heads aka Marketing.
skizm 7y ago
Like the author said, Google put their money where there mouth was on several occasions regarding China. They simply started ignoring Chinese government requests to sensor things and put billions of dollars at risk in an attempt to not be evil. It's one of those "we're not mad, we're just disappointed" situations (for me at least).
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
tjpnz 7y ago
Google are insanely good at PR. They're just as bad as Facebook (and arguably worse) yet they're still viewed by many as the "good guys".
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
  There is no way that number hasn't slipped in recent years. I would at least segment public opinion into the general public and those involved in the tech industry. Google's image (Facebook, etc, there's others) have certainly seen damage in both groups. Whether technical people like or dislike, is kind of ambivalent. You know, it's how we make our money. And companies like Google are the market makers for raising salaries for the employees of this industry.
- deadmutex 7y ago
  Ehn, from my POV, it seems like the Google's PR has a lot of room for improvement. Apple seems to have a much better PR department. Opinions are my own.
liveoneggs 7y ago
I used to live on the 2nd floor of an apartment in NYC; upstairs was a family with two small kids (not sure they even owned a personal computer) and downstairs was a single guy working at google. Google guy complained (a lot) about mom (upstairs) leaving her stroller in the lobby to the point where she would ask me for help carrying it up the stairs pretty often. (no problem, I had a baby and was a sympathetic southern transplant) Mom said "I thought they were the "Don't be evil" guys"; that stuff was branding gold!

zepto 7y ago

Because they claimed to be.

oh_sigh 7y ago
Well - they were. Now they're not. Why is that shocking?
- zepto 7y ago
  Who is shocked?
catalogia 7y ago
Many corporations are prone to claiming outlandish things about themselves, so if that's the answer it suggests another question: why did so many people believe this particular corporation that claimed to be unique?
- zepto 7y ago
  The were far more serious about it - is wasn’t just a casual claim.
standardUser 7y ago
I tend to agree. The entire "Don't Be Evil" thing planted a bizarre idea in a lot of people's heads that this particular faceless corporate giant would be different and better.
- sumedh 7y ago
  > The entire "Don't Be Evil" thing planted a bizarre idea in a lot of people's heads aka Marketing.

skizm 7y ago

Like the author said, Google put their money where there mouth was on several occasions regarding China. They simply started ignoring Chinese government requests to sensor things and put billions of dollars at risk in an attempt to not be evil. It's one of those "we're not mad, we're just disappointed" situations (for me at least).

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

tjpnz 7y ago

Google are insanely good at PR. They're just as bad as Facebook (and arguably worse) yet they're still viewed by many as the "good guys".

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
There is no way that number hasn't slipped in recent years. I would at least segment public opinion into the general public and those involved in the tech industry. Google's image (Facebook, etc, there's others) have certainly seen damage in both groups. Whether technical people like or dislike, is kind of ambivalent. You know, it's how we make our money. And companies like Google are the market makers for raising salaries for the employees of this industry.
deadmutex 7y ago
Ehn, from my POV, it seems like the Google's PR has a lot of room for improvement. Apple seems to have a much better PR department. Opinions are my own.

liveoneggs 7y ago

I used to live on the 2nd floor of an apartment in NYC; upstairs was a family with two small kids (not sure they even owned a personal computer) and downstairs was a single guy working at google. Google guy complained (a lot) about mom (upstairs) leaving her stroller in the lobby to the point where she would ask me for help carrying it up the stairs pretty often. (no problem, I had a baby and was a sympathetic southern transplant) Mom said "I thought they were the "Don't be evil" guys"; that stuff was branding gold!