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I'm a developer and a school admin, so I can comment on the Classroom point, at least: It is so comically clear that Classroom really was someone's clever idea

I'm a developer and a school admin, so I can comment on the Classroom point, at least: It is so comically clear that Classroom really was someone's clever idea to simply take existing Google Drive APIs and then create an LMS-like environment using that. Taken like that, it's actually brilliant and super clever. The not-so-brilliant-and-clever part is that by virtue of being free and Google having so many schools captive with free GoogleEDU + Chromebooks, this is something running millions' of kids' schooling, especially now during COVID. But it seems, at every indication, to continue to be someone's pet Google Drive API project, so you see some insane feature omissions because it is clear it would probably require some sort of actual original development work besides the very minimal UI and overhead that Classroom provides. I need to thread lightly, though, 'cause I've made decent money (and had fun) implementing quite a few of these for my own school, but every single time its been clear to me that EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE UNIVERSE would also want/need things like that.

throw10920 5y ago
I'm also a developer and an educator using Classroom for a small class. Your insight makes it crystal clear why I always thought that Classroom was completely insane, to the point where I was wondering why nobody else said anything and maybe I just wasn't "getting it" - no, it's because it's basically a clever hack that's a Googler's side project (that maybe now has a small team around it).
- ChicagoBoy11 5y ago
  As a fun exercise, I'd encourage you to peruse even their apps script APIs and see how quickly you can actually get something like "google classroom" up and running for yourself, minus some of the UI candy. Truth-be-told their documentation and what they expose to you is pretty rich, and along the way you then start seeing exactly why "Google Classroom" things are the way they are hehehe.
  - alephnan 5y ago
    This is enlightening. I do see they have a marketing / landing page which makes me feel there is a product charter beyond half-a-SWE: https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/ https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/

throw10920 5y ago

I'm also a developer and an educator using Classroom for a small class. Your insight makes it crystal clear why I always thought that Classroom was completely insane, to the point where I was wondering why nobody else said anything and maybe I just wasn't "getting it" - no, it's because it's basically a clever hack that's a Googler's side project (that maybe now has a small team around it).

ChicagoBoy11 5y ago
As a fun exercise, I'd encourage you to peruse even their apps script APIs and see how quickly you can actually get something like "google classroom" up and running for yourself, minus some of the UI candy. Truth-be-told their documentation and what they expose to you is pretty rich, and along the way you then start seeing exactly why "Google Classroom" things are the way they are hehehe.
- alephnan 5y ago
  This is enlightening. I do see they have a marketing / landing page which makes me feel there is a product charter beyond half-a-SWE: https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/ https://edu.google.com/products/classroom/