6 ms·

I think people here are being ungenerous towards the author. Too me this story sounds genuine and not like a pr move dictated by Microsoft. It strikes me to be

I think people here are being ungenerous towards the author. Too me this story sounds genuine and not like a pr move dictated by Microsoft. It strikes me to be a personal account by someone who's trying to make sense of the past and actually mourning what he believe is the death of old Google. This deserves our respect as professionals because inevitably we are all going to find ourselves in a similar situation, trying to learn from the past and seeking understanding by our peers.

yanw 15y ago
Doesn't seem that genuine posted on a corporate blog.
- anon808 15y ago
  is it a corporate blog, or a personal blog part of the msdn developer community? I honestly don't know, but it doesn't look like a "Microsoft" blog.
  - jf 15y ago
    This blog is as personal a blog as a Microsoft employee can get without hosting one themselves. As a Microsoft employee, I could have my own blog on blogs.msdn.com - but the signup process was more complicated than Posterous, so I don't.
  - brown9-2 15y ago
    The latter, although obviously hosted on a MS flagship property.
georgemcbay 15y ago
I agree the responses seem a bit harsh. Also as someone who never worked at Google but has been a pretty big Google "fanboy" (of the search, Google Apps, Android, etc) his waning enthusiasm for the brand as an employee seems to have taken a very similar dip to my waning enthusiasm for them as a user, though due to personal investment his dip was probably faster and deeper than my own. I've loved Google in the past precisely because they weren't Apple and they weren't Facebook. It seems increasingly like they are trying to be Apple and Facebook rolled up into one, which (most importantly for me) sucks because I'm not a fan of Apple or Facebook and (most importantly for them) sucks because they aren't a very good Apple nor a very good Facebook, so they're trading in their old fans for the hope of new fans that probably aren't interested anyway. Larry Page, I am disppoint.
- ashishgandhi 15y ago
  A little off-topic. My comment is going to be anecdotal so it may very well be wrong and if yours has been a different experience I would love to hear about it. A lot of people love a company X because it's "not Apple" or sometimes "not Facebook". I don't get that. It's doesn't make any sense to me. You like something; in this case a company, because it has/does/stands for/makes certain things. Why do people like X just because it's not, say, Apple. It only tells me you hate something and are picking their competitor because they are not Apple. Doesn't X has merits of it's own to be liked? Personal case: - I love Apple for OS X, iOS, iPhone (and somewhat the iPad) - I love Google for search and Google Apps but not a big fan of Android (Maybe because I always had a Nexus One that didn't let me install more than a couple of apps because of internal storage, had a jittery UI, had to keep killing tasks to preserve battery, poor quality of apps and a not so awesome UX. If I had one of the newer Androids I may not be pissed at it.) - I'm neutral on Facebook because I never share anything personal on it. I'm using it wrong. But that doesn't mean I love G+ or Orkut or MySpace. - I like Microsoft for Office and their Exchange server. Summary: To me I seem to have a liking for companies because of their qualities. My question is if anyone knows studies or psychological explanation why people like companies because they are NOT some other company (aka competition of a company they dislike).
  - georgemcbay 15y ago
    You're reading my comment about loving Google because they aren't Apple a bit too literally. That's just shorthand to say I love Google because of many actual reasons including but not limited to these: I loved Google because they've had a true culture of open APIs and open code as opposed to Apple who does use and contribute to OSS projects, but on a much more limited basis and generally only when it has immediate benefit for themselves. I loved Google because they haven't had a history of disallowing apps from their app store for goofy reasons (like they compete with their own apps, or they are written in a language Google doesn't like). I loved Google because I didn't feel like they were overstepping their bounds in deciding how I should use my computers or devices. I loved Google because I never got the feeling that they were trying to trap me completely inside their own walled garden. etc.
  - deleted 15y ago
discreteevent 15y ago
So he complains about advertising and then he complains when they try to make a more honest living with app engine. At the end of the article you would conclude that this guy has had enough of rampant commercialism and was off to joing something like MSF. But it turns out to be MSFT. I know its harsh to say it but the guy comes across as a spoiled child.
zmmmmm 15y ago
The beauty of a good smear is that is true. You have to find things that are genuine and exaggerate their importance and weight in the public mind through timing, placement and publicity. If it doesn't have the weight of truth behind it a smear cannot work. To me, I see this as a cynical smear by Microsoft precisely because it is true and it is genuine.

yanw 15y ago

Doesn't seem that genuine posted on a corporate blog.

anon808 15y ago
is it a corporate blog, or a personal blog part of the msdn developer community? I honestly don't know, but it doesn't look like a "Microsoft" blog.
- jf 15y ago
  This blog is as personal a blog as a Microsoft employee can get without hosting one themselves. As a Microsoft employee, I could have my own blog on blogs.msdn.com - but the signup process was more complicated than Posterous, so I don't.
- brown9-2 15y ago
  The latter, although obviously hosted on a MS flagship property.

georgemcbay 15y ago

I agree the responses seem a bit harsh. Also as someone who never worked at Google but has been a pretty big Google "fanboy" (of the search, Google Apps, Android, etc) his waning enthusiasm for the brand as an employee seems to have taken a very similar dip to my waning enthusiasm for them as a user, though due to personal investment his dip was probably faster and deeper than my own. I've loved Google in the past precisely because they weren't Apple and they weren't Facebook. It seems increasingly like they are trying to be Apple and Facebook rolled up into one, which (most importantly for me) sucks because I'm not a fan of Apple or Facebook and (most importantly for them) sucks because they aren't a very good Apple nor a very good Facebook, so they're trading in their old fans for the hope of new fans that probably aren't interested anyway. Larry Page, I am disppoint.

ashishgandhi 15y ago
A little off-topic. My comment is going to be anecdotal so it may very well be wrong and if yours has been a different experience I would love to hear about it. A lot of people love a company X because it's "not Apple" or sometimes "not Facebook". I don't get that. It's doesn't make any sense to me. You like something; in this case a company, because it has/does/stands for/makes certain things. Why do people like X just because it's not, say, Apple. It only tells me you hate something and are picking their competitor because they are not Apple. Doesn't X has merits of it's own to be liked? Personal case: - I love Apple for OS X, iOS, iPhone (and somewhat the iPad) - I love Google for search and Google Apps but not a big fan of Android (Maybe because I always had a Nexus One that didn't let me install more than a couple of apps because of internal storage, had a jittery UI, had to keep killing tasks to preserve battery, poor quality of apps and a not so awesome UX. If I had one of the newer Androids I may not be pissed at it.) - I'm neutral on Facebook because I never share anything personal on it. I'm using it wrong. But that doesn't mean I love G+ or Orkut or MySpace. - I like Microsoft for Office and their Exchange server. Summary: To me I seem to have a liking for companies because of their qualities. My question is if anyone knows studies or psychological explanation why people like companies because they are NOT some other company (aka competition of a company they dislike).
- georgemcbay 15y ago
  You're reading my comment about loving Google because they aren't Apple a bit too literally. That's just shorthand to say I love Google because of many actual reasons including but not limited to these: I loved Google because they've had a true culture of open APIs and open code as opposed to Apple who does use and contribute to OSS projects, but on a much more limited basis and generally only when it has immediate benefit for themselves. I loved Google because they haven't had a history of disallowing apps from their app store for goofy reasons (like they compete with their own apps, or they are written in a language Google doesn't like). I loved Google because I didn't feel like they were overstepping their bounds in deciding how I should use my computers or devices. I loved Google because I never got the feeling that they were trying to trap me completely inside their own walled garden. etc.
- deleted 15y ago

discreteevent 15y ago

So he complains about advertising and then he complains when they try to make a more honest living with app engine. At the end of the article you would conclude that this guy has had enough of rampant commercialism and was off to joing something like MSF. But it turns out to be MSFT. I know its harsh to say it but the guy comes across as a spoiled child.

zmmmmm 15y ago

The beauty of a good smear is that is true. You have to find things that are genuine and exaggerate their importance and weight in the public mind through timing, placement and publicity. If it doesn't have the weight of truth behind it a smear cannot work. To me, I see this as a cynical smear by Microsoft precisely because it is true and it is genuine.