5 ms·

I had that too. A 14 year old account, with Google Cloud and Google One billing, plus many Google Store purchases and they still wanted me to prove my age. WTF?

gruez 5y ago
That totally makes sense from a software engineering point of view. The age check was probably implemented as a "verified_age" column somewhere, and they didn't bother backfilling it with your existing google account info.
- retSava 5y ago
  Absolutely, but for one of the largest sites on the web, served by one of the richest companies on the planet, being the one company knowing the most about me (and billions more) compared to other companies, and Youtube being probably one of the most profitable sites on the web too, I do expect better.
- PostThisTooFast 5y ago
  It's still shitty programming that inconveniences the user.
- manigandham 5y ago
  It doesn't make sense for a trillion-dollar company known for some of the best software engineering. There are remarkable lapses in UX with Google products.
  - kortilla 5y ago
    Google is the new IBM. There are certainly amazing things being done but 90% of the employees are just doing boring CRUD and have never done anything special.
  - mrweasel 5y ago
    Someday I hope to read an article or watch a talk explaining Googles approach to UX. The best UX in a Google apps seems to be Gmail, and that’s honestly not that good either. Google is able to build insanely complicated infrastructure, design cool languages, they produced fantastic backend software and the they completely forget that people need to interact with it.
    - MiddleEndian 5y ago
      Gmail at some point had a good UX. Nowadays I've switched back to a local mail client because their webmail is weirdly sluggish for no reason.
    - ric2b 5y ago
      The best UX is in products they killed, like Inbox or Play Music.
  - jokethrowaway 5y ago
    Best engineering? Ever tried hiring some of those ex Google contractors? There is plenty of good engineers in Google and plenty of terrible engineers.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      So their vaunted gruesome job interview process is no more effective than any other company's boring old normal one.
- _joel 5y ago
  That's very convenient for them, if so, but I very much doubt that's the reason.
- wombatpm 5y ago
  Any Googlers reading this discussion? Was there a valid reason for these decisions or did everyone just miss it?

gruez 5y ago

That totally makes sense from a software engineering point of view. The age check was probably implemented as a "verified_age" column somewhere, and they didn't bother backfilling it with your existing google account info.

retSava 5y ago
Absolutely, but for one of the largest sites on the web, served by one of the richest companies on the planet, being the one company knowing the most about me (and billions more) compared to other companies, and Youtube being probably one of the most profitable sites on the web too, I do expect better.
PostThisTooFast 5y ago
It's still shitty programming that inconveniences the user.
manigandham 5y ago
It doesn't make sense for a trillion-dollar company known for some of the best software engineering. There are remarkable lapses in UX with Google products.
- kortilla 5y ago
  Google is the new IBM. There are certainly amazing things being done but 90% of the employees are just doing boring CRUD and have never done anything special.
- mrweasel 5y ago
  Someday I hope to read an article or watch a talk explaining Googles approach to UX. The best UX in a Google apps seems to be Gmail, and that’s honestly not that good either. Google is able to build insanely complicated infrastructure, design cool languages, they produced fantastic backend software and the they completely forget that people need to interact with it.
  - MiddleEndian 5y ago
    Gmail at some point had a good UX. Nowadays I've switched back to a local mail client because their webmail is weirdly sluggish for no reason.
  - ric2b 5y ago
    The best UX is in products they killed, like Inbox or Play Music.
- jokethrowaway 5y ago
  Best engineering? Ever tried hiring some of those ex Google contractors? There is plenty of good engineers in Google and plenty of terrible engineers.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    So their vaunted gruesome job interview process is no more effective than any other company's boring old normal one.
_joel 5y ago
That's very convenient for them, if so, but I very much doubt that's the reason.
wombatpm 5y ago
Any Googlers reading this discussion? Was there a valid reason for these decisions or did everyone just miss it?