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I always believed Google's primary reason for offering Fiber was to "inspire" current ISPs to pick up the speed pace.

convolvatron 3y ago
google is in the business of intermediation. they really want to be the interface between you and the rest of the world. Fiber was just the best, most ultimate version of that - it was just really messy and expensive.
- patmorgan23 3y ago
  I think it served multiple purposes, they didn't raise consumer expectations at the time/ popularize 1 gig fiber service. Around the same time the FTC was considering (and did) raise the speed definition of broadband and they YouTube had a big push to make 1080p streaming smooth and accessible, and they were being held back by a lot of slow last mile ISPs.
GauntletWizard 3y ago
Google was pretty clear about that, internally.
bsder 3y ago
Google Fiber was really because Google believed that the ISPs were an existential threat. Then everybody went mobile. So, now Google isn't quite as fussed about fibre.
- deprecative 3y ago
  > So, now Google isn't quite as fussed about fibre. Even if they were they couldn't get into a whole lot of markets. It sort of piggy backs off of municipal fiber which is a nonstarter in some places due to costs or it straight up being illegal. Google also has Google Fi which is a mobile provider.
scarface_74 3y ago
Too bad Google has the attention span of a crack addled flea. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/google-fiber-exits-louisville-after-shoddy-installs-left-exposed-wires-in-roads/amp/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/googl...
- chiefalchemist 3y ago
  Yes. But that's a feature, not a bug. 1) Google didn't want to be a service provider. ("Customer service? What's that??") It only needed to feign the threat to get the other real ISPs to pick up the speed. They were only committed enough to acheive that broader goal. 2) "Failure" is good for Google. It's a cover for where they are dominant. Shuttering Fiber isn't a failure. It's a win.
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    Addressing #2 It’s a bug in Google’s promo driven culture. You don’t get promoted at Google by being good at your job, you have to show “impact”. That’s much easier to do by being on a new initiative. You don’t do that by improving and maintaining existing projects. Amazon has the same “impact” driven promo culture. I haven’t worked at Google. But I did work at Amazon. From what I read about Google, it’s the same Hunger Games mentality.

google is in the business of intermediation. they really want to be the interface between you and the rest of the world. Fiber was just the best, most ultimate version of that - it was just really messy and expensive.

patmorgan23 3y ago
I think it served multiple purposes, they didn't raise consumer expectations at the time/ popularize 1 gig fiber service. Around the same time the FTC was considering (and did) raise the speed definition of broadband and they YouTube had a big push to make 1080p streaming smooth and accessible, and they were being held back by a lot of slow last mile ISPs.

GauntletWizard 3y ago

Google was pretty clear about that, internally.

bsder 3y ago

Google Fiber was really because Google believed that the ISPs were an existential threat. Then everybody went mobile. So, now Google isn't quite as fussed about fibre.

deprecative 3y ago
> So, now Google isn't quite as fussed about fibre. Even if they were they couldn't get into a whole lot of markets. It sort of piggy backs off of municipal fiber which is a nonstarter in some places due to costs or it straight up being illegal. Google also has Google Fi which is a mobile provider.

scarface_74 3y ago

Too bad Google has the attention span of a crack addled flea. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/google-fiber-exits-louisville-after-shoddy-installs-left-exposed-wires-in-roads/amp/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/googl...

chiefalchemist 3y ago
Yes. But that's a feature, not a bug. 1) Google didn't want to be a service provider. ("Customer service? What's that??") It only needed to feign the threat to get the other real ISPs to pick up the speed. They were only committed enough to acheive that broader goal. 2) "Failure" is good for Google. It's a cover for where they are dominant. Shuttering Fiber isn't a failure. It's a win.
- scarface_74 3y ago
  Addressing #2 It’s a bug in Google’s promo driven culture. You don’t get promoted at Google by being good at your job, you have to show “impact”. That’s much easier to do by being on a new initiative. You don’t do that by improving and maintaining existing projects. Amazon has the same “impact” driven promo culture. I haven’t worked at Google. But I did work at Amazon. From what I read about Google, it’s the same Hunger Games mentality.