4 ms·

>societal value Genuine question: what societal value would be lost if Google was erased tomorrow (all technical reliance their services was magically replaced

by pixxel 2y ago

>societal value Genuine question: what societal value would be lost if Google was erased tomorrow (all technical reliance their services was magically replaced overnight with alternatives by pixies)?

ruthmarx 2y ago
What would happen if you replaced Google with a perfect functional equivalent? Well, nothing. You don't happen to know where one could find these magical perfectly compatible and functional drop in replacements, do you?
- idle_zealot 2y ago
  The closest thing to a unique offering that they have is YouTube. What other services don't have perfectly reasonable replacements ready and waiting?
  - bhelkey 2y ago
    Android makes up ~70% of the global phone marketshare [1]. Google maps makes up 70% of the mapping marketshare [2]. Chrome makes up ~65% of the browser marketshare [3]. Those are three of the nine products Google has with over a billion users [4]. [1] https://backlinko.com/iphone-vs-android-statistics https://backlinko.com/iphone-vs-android-statistics [2] https://www.thestreet.com/technology/big-tech-working-to-change-mapping-industry https://www.thestreet.com/technology/big-tech-working-to-cha... [3] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share [4] https://01core.substack.com/p/google-has-9-products-with-over-1 https://01core.substack.com/p/google-has-9-products-with-ove...
    - idle_zealot 2y ago
      Excellent job demonstrating Google's broad market dominance, and that alternatives exist to replace them should antitrust action be taken.
      - bhelkey 2y ago
        What drop in equivalent exists for Android? I have no desire to move to iOS. What drop in equivalent exists for Google maps? I have used OpenStreetMap for a personal project and have tried other proprietary options. If Google maps disappeared, life would go on but I would be worse off. What equivalent exists for Chrome? Even on desktop I prefer Chrome over Firefox. On mobile, Firefox falls far behind Chrome.
        idle_zealot 2y ago
        Fortunately for you, Android and Chromium are FOSS and not going anywhere. For maps there is OSM with several available frontends, Bing maps, and Apple Maps has a web version.
        ruthmarx 2y ago
        No one is denying alternatives exist, people are denying alternatives exist that are anywhere near as good.
        EasyMark 2y ago
        What FOSS organizations will pick up Android? Or are you talking about someone like Samsung taking up the reigns for Android?
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        Will OSM tell me which subway lines to use and what time the next train comes and how much the different possible routes cost?
  - ruthmarx 2y ago
    > What other services don't have perfectly reasonable replacements ready and waiting? How about which single reasonable replacement offers the same services with the same level of integration? Using Yahoo Mail and Amazon Cloud and Office Online and whatever other products isn't quite the same offering as what Google offers.
    - idle_zealot 2y ago
      Interoperability is great, walled-garden integration is a trap like any sort of bundling. If someone wants to create a suite of products that work well together that's fine so long as they employ means that allow other products to integrate as well. Google has gone the other route and created a suite of products and services that integrate in ways that exclude competitors.
      - ruthmarx 2y ago
        > Interoperability is great, Yup, and that's what people want. So what is the integrated service you are saying exists that can be a drop in replacement for the way so many organizations use Google's integrated services?
        idle_zealot 2y ago
        There isn't one, and there's no incentive to build it so long as creating a walled garden is more profitable.
        ruthmarx 2y ago
        > There isn't one, There we go. So if we go back up to your first comment where you say there are separate replacements for some services, you can see that isn't really relevant since what is being discussed was a drop in replacement for Google, and not an individual service they offer. Aside from that though, Google's offerings are not a walled garden.
dehrmann 2y ago
You could make that argument for anything, though.

by pixxel 2y ago

>societal value Genuine question: what societal value would be lost if Google was erased tomorrow (all technical reliance their services was magically replaced overnight with alternatives by pixies)?

ruthmarx 2y ago

What would happen if you replaced Google with a perfect functional equivalent? Well, nothing. You don't happen to know where one could find these magical perfectly compatible and functional drop in replacements, do you?

idle_zealot 2y ago
The closest thing to a unique offering that they have is YouTube. What other services don't have perfectly reasonable replacements ready and waiting?
- bhelkey 2y ago
  Android makes up ~70% of the global phone marketshare [1]. Google maps makes up 70% of the mapping marketshare [2]. Chrome makes up ~65% of the browser marketshare [3]. Those are three of the nine products Google has with over a billion users [4]. [1] https://backlinko.com/iphone-vs-android-statistics https://backlinko.com/iphone-vs-android-statistics [2] https://www.thestreet.com/technology/big-tech-working-to-change-mapping-industry https://www.thestreet.com/technology/big-tech-working-to-cha... [3] https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share [4] https://01core.substack.com/p/google-has-9-products-with-over-1 https://01core.substack.com/p/google-has-9-products-with-ove...
  - idle_zealot 2y ago
    Excellent job demonstrating Google's broad market dominance, and that alternatives exist to replace them should antitrust action be taken.
    - bhelkey 2y ago
      What drop in equivalent exists for Android? I have no desire to move to iOS. What drop in equivalent exists for Google maps? I have used OpenStreetMap for a personal project and have tried other proprietary options. If Google maps disappeared, life would go on but I would be worse off. What equivalent exists for Chrome? Even on desktop I prefer Chrome over Firefox. On mobile, Firefox falls far behind Chrome.
      - idle_zealot 2y ago
        Fortunately for you, Android and Chromium are FOSS and not going anywhere. For maps there is OSM with several available frontends, Bing maps, and Apple Maps has a web version.
        ruthmarx 2y ago
        No one is denying alternatives exist, people are denying alternatives exist that are anywhere near as good.
        EasyMark 2y ago
        What FOSS organizations will pick up Android? Or are you talking about someone like Samsung taking up the reigns for Android?
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        Will OSM tell me which subway lines to use and what time the next train comes and how much the different possible routes cost?
- ruthmarx 2y ago
  > What other services don't have perfectly reasonable replacements ready and waiting? How about which single reasonable replacement offers the same services with the same level of integration? Using Yahoo Mail and Amazon Cloud and Office Online and whatever other products isn't quite the same offering as what Google offers.
  - idle_zealot 2y ago
    Interoperability is great, walled-garden integration is a trap like any sort of bundling. If someone wants to create a suite of products that work well together that's fine so long as they employ means that allow other products to integrate as well. Google has gone the other route and created a suite of products and services that integrate in ways that exclude competitors.
    - ruthmarx 2y ago
      > Interoperability is great, Yup, and that's what people want. So what is the integrated service you are saying exists that can be a drop in replacement for the way so many organizations use Google's integrated services?
      - idle_zealot 2y ago
        There isn't one, and there's no incentive to build it so long as creating a walled garden is more profitable.
        ruthmarx 2y ago
        > There isn't one, There we go. So if we go back up to your first comment where you say there are separate replacements for some services, you can see that isn't really relevant since what is being discussed was a drop in replacement for Google, and not an individual service they offer. Aside from that though, Google's offerings are not a walled garden.

dehrmann 2y ago

You could make that argument for anything, though.