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the same reason 20% time is dead and requires management approval. do I really have to spell it out? (google maps started as an engineer fooling around with a

• Medicine 15y ago
  google maps was an acquired product. It was modified to work in the browser.
  • its_so_on 15y ago
    they acquired the data because of the browser trick; that's why decided to get into doing that. look it up.
• Splines 15y ago
  Do you work at Google? I'm curious, because according to others, while 20% time does technically require management approval, it's usually not a problem. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3703018 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3703018 Also, inferring company culture from the lack of a visible public beta is a bit of an assumption, don't you think?
  • rachelbythebay 15y ago
    Going from "it's your time, nobody can take it away from you, but it's up to you to take it", as it was in my day, to "it requires management approval" is a big difference to me. Would you agree?
  • its_so_on 15y ago
    no, I'm using loads of data-points, including reading about organization near the top as reported by business sources, as well as comments at various places that I can link to (including here), and finally by observing Google's actions as done and as reported. I can detail all of this for you if you like, but, really, it's not so hard to put together. Come to your own conclusion.