3 ms·

For all of this, Google doesn’t create very good products anymore. This is a guide that came into being _after_ Google was successful. It’s not _why_ Google bec

by 7e 3y ago

For all of this, Google doesn’t create very good products anymore. This is a guide that came into being _after_ Google was successful. It’s not _why_ Google became successful. Yes, if you have a mountain of money and a horde of underutilized employees, it’s easy to gold plate your engineering and navel-gaze at your biases.

x86x87 3y ago
It depends how you look at it. A lot of products created by Google were good/high quality but were killed anyway. It's sad to see things being killed because they were not "big enough".
- natch 3y ago
  The ones that were not killed are atrociously shoddy and have been now for, you’d think I was going to say years, but it’s actually decades.
  - philote 3y ago
    I feel like even their main products are shoddy as well. How can they recommend good, relevant ads if they can't even recommend good news articles, music, or videos? If I do any search in Google on a topic, even if it's just to get a tiny bit of info about that topic, Google decides I'm interested in it and will make recommendations based on that one, single search. Or sometimes I'll buy a product and start seeing ads for similar products later. That's not good targeting IMO.
phendrenad2 3y ago
Whenever I watch/read interviews with people who were successful in some way, they usually downplay the ugly hacks and shortcuts they took to get there, and are quick to say that they "should have done it <the right way>". It's really hard to get any insights because of this inherently unreliable narration.
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  Survivorship bias is a hell of drug.
- blitz_skull 3y ago
  There was a great (IMO) article posted here on HN the other day about this very topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37100226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37100226
- Terr_ 3y ago
  Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1827/ https://xkcd.com/1827/ I'm also reminded of something written by Scott Adams (decades ago, when his reputation was different.) > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are embarrassed to admit luck was involved. I can't blame them. Typically, the pre-luck part of their careers involved doing something enormously pathetic. -- "The Dilbert Future" (1997), by Scott Adams

by 7e 3y ago

x86x87 3y ago

It depends how you look at it. A lot of products created by Google were good/high quality but were killed anyway. It's sad to see things being killed because they were not "big enough".

natch 3y ago
The ones that were not killed are atrociously shoddy and have been now for, you’d think I was going to say years, but it’s actually decades.
- philote 3y ago
  I feel like even their main products are shoddy as well. How can they recommend good, relevant ads if they can't even recommend good news articles, music, or videos? If I do any search in Google on a topic, even if it's just to get a tiny bit of info about that topic, Google decides I'm interested in it and will make recommendations based on that one, single search. Or sometimes I'll buy a product and start seeing ads for similar products later. That's not good targeting IMO.

phendrenad2 3y ago

Whenever I watch/read interviews with people who were successful in some way, they usually downplay the ugly hacks and shortcuts they took to get there, and are quick to say that they "should have done it <the right way>". It's really hard to get any insights because of this inherently unreliable narration.

WorldMaker 3y ago
Survivorship bias is a hell of drug.
blitz_skull 3y ago
There was a great (IMO) article posted here on HN the other day about this very topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37100226 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37100226
Terr_ 3y ago
Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1827/ https://xkcd.com/1827/ I'm also reminded of something written by Scott Adams (decades ago, when his reputation was different.) > Most people won't admit how they got their current jobs unless you push them up against a built-in wall unit and punch them in the stomach until they spill their drink and start yelling, "I'LL NEVER INVITE YOU TO ONE OF MY PARTIES AGAIN, YOU DRUNKEN FOOL!" > I think the reason these annoying people won't tell me how they got their jobs is because they are embarrassed to admit luck was involved. I can't blame them. Typically, the pre-luck part of their careers involved doing something enormously pathetic. -- "The Dilbert Future" (1997), by Scott Adams