3 ms·

What the ..., Google stole my ideas?

16 points by focuser 14y ago

lukeman 14y ago
They "stole" visual diff and project templates? Maybe you should have tried to patent those innovations.
wheaties 14y ago
I think the best lesson here is that if you don't have some amount of traction or cash pile to back yourself up, don't share unpatentable ideas with someone who's legal army outnumbers you.
buss 14y ago
This is a troll, right? Google stole a template wizard and diff tool? From whom -- Microsoft circa Office 97?
- focuser 14y ago
  didn't mean to post this as a troll. Just wanted to show my exact feeling at that point. But again, it's possible too that they might have come up with these features coincidentally. And I agree code templates are not a new idea. What I have really learned from this situation is to see these things positively. Good ideas are just a good start. What really makes the difference is the underlying execution and the vision behind.
  - buss 14y ago
    Ugh, I'm sorry about my previous post. Sometimes I forget that there are real people on the other end. I know what it feels like when you think somebody has stolen your idea. It sucks and feels like whoever stole the idea has robbed you of untold fortunes. My comment was unnecessarily uncivil, but your idea is still not a new idea. You already know this, though. I agree with another commenter; Google is probably not capable of implementing a feature like this in such a short amount of time so it is likely that they were already working on this before they saw what you sent them. Keep coming up with good ideas, and I'll try to think before I speak.
  - compsciphd 14y ago
    i doubt an idea you sent to google in in april/may was ripped off in 2 months. They probably were working on it already. I have enough friends at google that when I say "the product you are working on should have feature X" they smile knowingly at me, but say they can't talk about that. Many times it shows up later. the response you got, of “there’s some lively conversation internally at Google" is exactly the same thing. They have been talking about it already, but they cant tip their hat to tell you anymore.
adventureful 14y ago
Given ideas have approximately zero value, they didn't make off with much.
- jeremy-smyth 14y ago
  You must not have heard of patents.
barista 14y ago
Google has proved time and again that it has no regard for IP and Copyright. So nothing of surprise here. It's the new 800 pound gorilla so the only recourse I guess is to publicize it and have them acknowledge it.
unreal37 14y ago
Unlikely that Google didn't even have a clue about adding a template wizard to ADT in early April, and had the feature added by early May. They can't move that fast to add features.
- yen223 14y ago
  Templates wizards aren't exactly a new thing...
antiterra 14y ago
Good ideas are not rare or inherently valuable. It's like giving someone a phone number and then being annoyed they didn't let you dial it for them for a fee or authorial credit.
useflyer 14y ago
Please stop trolling Hacker News. If this isn't trolling, please discard your misconceptions of entrepreneurship circa a dark 1995 basement
ringoboo 14y ago
Attribution is a basic feature of software. Google should fix this or they risk appearing slimy. Google per se is not evil. But it is a competitive environment internally. So some idiot had the bright idea of ripping off the idea so he or she could look good internally. Presto - the code appears in the build one morning, and others to avoid controversy keep quiet. Or the whole team wants to look good in front of upper management. Either way, it's now in the code line, and if someone upstairs likes it, it takes on a life of its own. This is how evil comes into being. Now Google's brand and PR folks will review this situation, his post, even my comment, and then may push internally for Google to "do no evil". Your move, Google. (Btw, only those who have never or congenitally unable to come up with good ideas are the ones who cry loudest about how ideas mean nothing)
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
jack-r-abbit 14y ago
In all fairness... they did not steal your ideas... you gave them your ideas in the form of some screencasts. I understand that when you gave them the screencasts, you were hoping for a different result. But none-the-less... you gave them the screencasts. That being said, if they did use your screencasts as inspiration for coding some features they had never thought of before then that is pretty slimy of them. But I (and probably you) have no way to know when they started planning those features.

16 points by focuser 14y ago

They "stole" visual diff and project templates? Maybe you should have tried to patent those innovations.

I think the best lesson here is that if you don't have some amount of traction or cash pile to back yourself up, don't share unpatentable ideas with someone who's legal army outnumbers you.

buss 14y ago

This is a troll, right? Google stole a template wizard and diff tool? From whom -- Microsoft circa Office 97?

focuser 14y ago
didn't mean to post this as a troll. Just wanted to show my exact feeling at that point. But again, it's possible too that they might have come up with these features coincidentally. And I agree code templates are not a new idea. What I have really learned from this situation is to see these things positively. Good ideas are just a good start. What really makes the difference is the underlying execution and the vision behind.
- buss 14y ago
  Ugh, I'm sorry about my previous post. Sometimes I forget that there are real people on the other end. I know what it feels like when you think somebody has stolen your idea. It sucks and feels like whoever stole the idea has robbed you of untold fortunes. My comment was unnecessarily uncivil, but your idea is still not a new idea. You already know this, though. I agree with another commenter; Google is probably not capable of implementing a feature like this in such a short amount of time so it is likely that they were already working on this before they saw what you sent them. Keep coming up with good ideas, and I'll try to think before I speak.
- compsciphd 14y ago
  i doubt an idea you sent to google in in april/may was ripped off in 2 months. They probably were working on it already. I have enough friends at google that when I say "the product you are working on should have feature X" they smile knowingly at me, but say they can't talk about that. Many times it shows up later. the response you got, of “there’s some lively conversation internally at Google" is exactly the same thing. They have been talking about it already, but they cant tip their hat to tell you anymore.

adventureful 14y ago

Given ideas have approximately zero value, they didn't make off with much.

jeremy-smyth 14y ago
You must not have heard of patents.

barista 14y ago

Google has proved time and again that it has no regard for IP and Copyright. So nothing of surprise here. It's the new 800 pound gorilla so the only recourse I guess is to publicize it and have them acknowledge it.

unreal37 14y ago

Unlikely that Google didn't even have a clue about adding a template wizard to ADT in early April, and had the feature added by early May. They can't move that fast to add features.

yen223 14y ago
Templates wizards aren't exactly a new thing...

antiterra 14y ago

Good ideas are not rare or inherently valuable. It's like giving someone a phone number and then being annoyed they didn't let you dial it for them for a fee or authorial credit.

useflyer 14y ago

Please stop trolling Hacker News. If this isn't trolling, please discard your misconceptions of entrepreneurship circa a dark 1995 basement

ringoboo 14y ago

Attribution is a basic feature of software. Google should fix this or they risk appearing slimy. Google per se is not evil. But it is a competitive environment internally. So some idiot had the bright idea of ripping off the idea so he or she could look good internally. Presto - the code appears in the build one morning, and others to avoid controversy keep quiet. Or the whole team wants to look good in front of upper management. Either way, it's now in the code line, and if someone upstairs likes it, it takes on a life of its own. This is how evil comes into being. Now Google's brand and PR folks will review this situation, his post, even my comment, and then may push internally for Google to "do no evil". Your move, Google. (Btw, only those who have never or congenitally unable to come up with good ideas are the ones who cry loudest about how ideas mean nothing)

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

jack-r-abbit 14y ago

In all fairness... they did not steal your ideas... you gave them your ideas in the form of some screencasts. I understand that when you gave them the screencasts, you were hoping for a different result. But none-the-less... you gave them the screencasts. That being said, if they did use your screencasts as inspiration for coding some features they had never thought of before then that is pretty slimy of them. But I (and probably you) have no way to know when they started planning those features.