5 ms·

It was an interesting article, until it stumbled into it's climax (sorry Spoiler alert): > "Eich created Brave to fundamentally change the economics of the int

It was an interesting article, until it stumbled into it's climax (sorry Spoiler alert): > "Eich created Brave to fundamentally change the economics of the internet." Ehh.... Nope. I think Google is struggling a lot more than people let on, but Brave isn't going to be the straw that breaks the Google's back. Fundamentally, Google has lost its vision and everything since... ~2015 or so (maybe sooner) has just been about turning the dial up on Google's profits even as their platforms get less appealing. Such a disappointment after being such an awesome company early on. But Brave? Seems unlikely.

echelon 6y ago
The founders don't seem to have much interest anymore, and Pichai is no Bezos, Nadella, or Cook. More of a Ballmer. Google 2021 is Microsoft 2001. It's like they switched places. If Google had a leadership change and a new vision, maybe it'd be an exciting company again.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > Google 2021 is Microsoft 2001. So much so. Except Google's influence does not seem to be growing. I'm not sure it's fair to say it's peaked. GOOG and FB are the 2 FAANG stocks I won't own. GOOG because people don't seem to love their product any more and they don't seem to have the leverage FB has. FB because the company is run by a complete douchebag. Both have a lot of regulatory risk. Though if I'm honest, Amazon and Apple do too.
- alexashka 6y ago
  I don't think any leader can make a behemoth into a gazelle. It goes against nature. If you recall Steve Jobs coming back to Apple - Apple was going to go bankrupt. That was the only reason he was allowed back in - as a hail mary play. Google, Microsoft, etc, are successful, profitable companies with lots of MBAs earning cushy paycheques, deciding what the new re-designed logos are going to look like. They'll never let anyone who hasn't rotted their brains away for a few decades in. You know, same as politics.
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    I don't think you need Google to be a gazelle. They just need to clean the elephant's cage every once in a while. Hell, maybe let the gentle giant back out instead of forcing it to walk in a giant treadmill cranking out profits. (Do I win worst analogy of the year award?) The past 7 years or so has been year after year of trying to milk as much profit out of what was arguably the best, most exciting internet success stories ever. It's just sad. Apple seems to be milking their cash cow as well, but at least they are still managing to crank out some fantastic projects to drive growth and interest.
    - alexashka 6y ago
      But more profits are a sign that the customers are getting even more benefit! /s :) I think we could all clean our own elephant's cage every once in a while. Do we, however? I'm all for wishful thinking but from personal experience, the times when I made significant positive changes in my life, it didn't come from self determination, creativity or passion, it came from having to do it because there was little choice in the matter. I don't expect companies to operate any differently, the cynic in me would even expect less of them than I do of myself. Given that's the case, I don't expect any company to do cool new things, I expect new people to bring something new to the table and for old curmudgeons to not get in the way too much. My problem with entities that hold power, is that they just don't want to die. It works out with humans because we have no say in the matter (although, we keep living longer which's a problem :P), but when it comes to organized religions, corporations, political allegiances, superstitions, etc, these old dreadful beasts can last hundreds of years! We need some brave dragon slayers to combat these creatures but instead we seem to be glorifying all sorts of non-sense and hoping the dragons act in benevolent manner instead of hoarding ever-more gold to sleep on top of. Perhaps our culture itself has become a monster of sorts and needs an update :)
fourstar 6y ago
Crypto is the future. Also imagine not trusting big brain Brendan. Also funny that you think Goog’s decline started in 2015.
ra7 6y ago
> Fundamentally, Google has lost its vision and everything since... ~2015 or so (maybe sooner) has just been about turning the dial up on Google's profits even as their platforms get less appealing. Such a disappointment after being such an awesome company early on. 100% agreed. I've had a lot of admiration for Google's technical prowess over the years, but their products just don't excite me anymore like it used to during Google's hey-days (Gmail, News, Maps or whatever new service they came up with). They've completely flatlined and they just seem... dull nowadays. It's honestly surprising they haven't rediscovered themselves given the amount of talent available at Google.
01100011 6y ago
Is Google struggling? I know they're seemingly phoning it in now when it comes to nearly every product besides search, but if all Google did was search, wouldn't they still be a profitable company? I really loved the old Google that used their profits to pursue innovation, but they don't have to do that. I think they're being shortsighted, but I don't expect that to bring down the company anytime soon.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > but if all Google did was search, wouldn't they still be a profitable company? Yes. Absolutely. Though in fairness they would be more vulnerable in many ways. Competitors would be able to bring a lot more resources to the table.

echelon 6y ago

The founders don't seem to have much interest anymore, and Pichai is no Bezos, Nadella, or Cook. More of a Ballmer. Google 2021 is Microsoft 2001. It's like they switched places. If Google had a leadership change and a new vision, maybe it'd be an exciting company again.

ogre_codes 6y ago
> Google 2021 is Microsoft 2001. So much so. Except Google's influence does not seem to be growing. I'm not sure it's fair to say it's peaked. GOOG and FB are the 2 FAANG stocks I won't own. GOOG because people don't seem to love their product any more and they don't seem to have the leverage FB has. FB because the company is run by a complete douchebag. Both have a lot of regulatory risk. Though if I'm honest, Amazon and Apple do too.
alexashka 6y ago
I don't think any leader can make a behemoth into a gazelle. It goes against nature. If you recall Steve Jobs coming back to Apple - Apple was going to go bankrupt. That was the only reason he was allowed back in - as a hail mary play. Google, Microsoft, etc, are successful, profitable companies with lots of MBAs earning cushy paycheques, deciding what the new re-designed logos are going to look like. They'll never let anyone who hasn't rotted their brains away for a few decades in. You know, same as politics.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  I don't think you need Google to be a gazelle. They just need to clean the elephant's cage every once in a while. Hell, maybe let the gentle giant back out instead of forcing it to walk in a giant treadmill cranking out profits. (Do I win worst analogy of the year award?) The past 7 years or so has been year after year of trying to milk as much profit out of what was arguably the best, most exciting internet success stories ever. It's just sad. Apple seems to be milking their cash cow as well, but at least they are still managing to crank out some fantastic projects to drive growth and interest.
  - alexashka 6y ago
    But more profits are a sign that the customers are getting even more benefit! /s :) I think we could all clean our own elephant's cage every once in a while. Do we, however? I'm all for wishful thinking but from personal experience, the times when I made significant positive changes in my life, it didn't come from self determination, creativity or passion, it came from having to do it because there was little choice in the matter. I don't expect companies to operate any differently, the cynic in me would even expect less of them than I do of myself. Given that's the case, I don't expect any company to do cool new things, I expect new people to bring something new to the table and for old curmudgeons to not get in the way too much. My problem with entities that hold power, is that they just don't want to die. It works out with humans because we have no say in the matter (although, we keep living longer which's a problem :P), but when it comes to organized religions, corporations, political allegiances, superstitions, etc, these old dreadful beasts can last hundreds of years! We need some brave dragon slayers to combat these creatures but instead we seem to be glorifying all sorts of non-sense and hoping the dragons act in benevolent manner instead of hoarding ever-more gold to sleep on top of. Perhaps our culture itself has become a monster of sorts and needs an update :)

fourstar 6y ago

Crypto is the future. Also imagine not trusting big brain Brendan. Also funny that you think Goog’s decline started in 2015.

ra7 6y ago

> Fundamentally, Google has lost its vision and everything since... ~2015 or so (maybe sooner) has just been about turning the dial up on Google's profits even as their platforms get less appealing. Such a disappointment after being such an awesome company early on. 100% agreed. I've had a lot of admiration for Google's technical prowess over the years, but their products just don't excite me anymore like it used to during Google's hey-days (Gmail, News, Maps or whatever new service they came up with). They've completely flatlined and they just seem... dull nowadays. It's honestly surprising they haven't rediscovered themselves given the amount of talent available at Google.

01100011 6y ago

Is Google struggling? I know they're seemingly phoning it in now when it comes to nearly every product besides search, but if all Google did was search, wouldn't they still be a profitable company? I really loved the old Google that used their profits to pursue innovation, but they don't have to do that. I think they're being shortsighted, but I don't expect that to bring down the company anytime soon.

ogre_codes 6y ago
> but if all Google did was search, wouldn't they still be a profitable company? Yes. Absolutely. Though in fairness they would be more vulnerable in many ways. Competitors would be able to bring a lot more resources to the table.