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Umm, nary an iPhone to be found? Most people I know at Google have an iOS product of some sort. Maybe it is different in Google Australia vs Mountain View, but

Umm, nary an iPhone to be found? Most people I know at Google have an iOS product of some sort. Maybe it is different in Google Australia vs Mountain View, but Googlers aren't shy about Apple HW. I would say 50% of Googlers carry MacBooks.

reidmain 14y ago
My understanding is that Googlers get a choice between a Apple computer (primarily MacBook Pro but I think iMac's are a possibility) or a computer running their customized version of Ubuntu. You can get a Windows machine but you need to jump through some hoops and paperwork to get it.
archangel_one 14y ago
The standard dev setup is a Linux desktop and a Mac laptop (Macbook Pro / Air) or a ThinkPad. So unsurprisingly, you'll see a lot of Mac laptops, but not necessarily iPhones. Also, a Macbook doesn't run iOS. The article author is being more accurate with his terminology than you are, which might lead to the confusion.
- jmillikin 14y ago
  I work on Mountain View, and several people on my team have iPhones. The reason is that we have an oncall rotation, and nobody wants to miss a page because their phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" during their shift. Plus, the iPhone batteries last longer. I suspect the author's experience might be because he worked in an office where teams are located in closer physical proximity. It can be socially difficult to use an iPhone when the local Android team sits just down the hall.
  - corresation 14y ago
    The reason is that we have an oncall rotation, and nobody wants to miss a page because their phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" during their shift. Are you seriously trying to claim that there is a greater risk with a Nexus 4, for instance, of a pager service stopping or a kernel panic? Your post seems utterly ridiculous.
    - archangel_one 14y ago
      See my reply to his sibling post; it's common to dogfood experimental builds, which I assume is what he meant rather than seeing that kind of thing in production builds.
      - corresation 14y ago
        Possibly, but if the option is dogfood experimental builds or use an iPhone, maybe they should not force the dogfooding of experimental builds? Though I don't think that was what they were saying. Their dismissive about Android tone (incl. the battery) means I suspect that they really are animous towards the product. Which might seem odd for a Googler, but actually it could easily be explained as someone who was rejected from that team, dislikes someone on that team, etc.
        archangel_one 14y ago
        It's not forced for all phones - it's only compulsory on prerelease devices. Presumably nobody would use such a device exclusively if they're on an urgent on-call rotation. I didn't read that much animosity into the post personally...
        micampe 14y ago
        > Which might seem odd for a Googler, but actually it could easily be explained as someone who was rejected from that team, dislikes someone on that team, etc. Seriously? It’s impossible for a Google employee to not like one of their products? That would be dishonest, no need to ascribe it to malice or retaliation. This should be true at every company. How can you improve your product if you think everything you do is just perfect and there is nothing to be improved?
        corresation 14y ago
        It's absolutely possible if not probable that many Google employees prefer iOS or outright dislike Android. However the scenarios given were the worst sort of FUD that even Android detractors don't resort to (seriously, so anyone who actually needs to be contacted should avoid Android if we're to believe the claim).
  - abrahamsen 14y ago
    > phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" Do Googlers typically use experimental Android builds? Googling for "android kernel panic" gives me pages about overclocked custom roms (and a MacOS X inspired game), and "PagerService has stopped" gives me exactly zero hits.
    - archangel_one 14y ago
      We do quite a bit of internal dogfooding when coming up to major releases - so yes, it's not uncommon to use an experimental build. You don't have to on a production phone, of course.

reidmain 14y ago

My understanding is that Googlers get a choice between a Apple computer (primarily MacBook Pro but I think iMac's are a possibility) or a computer running their customized version of Ubuntu. You can get a Windows machine but you need to jump through some hoops and paperwork to get it.

archangel_one 14y ago

The standard dev setup is a Linux desktop and a Mac laptop (Macbook Pro / Air) or a ThinkPad. So unsurprisingly, you'll see a lot of Mac laptops, but not necessarily iPhones. Also, a Macbook doesn't run iOS. The article author is being more accurate with his terminology than you are, which might lead to the confusion.

jmillikin 14y ago
I work on Mountain View, and several people on my team have iPhones. The reason is that we have an oncall rotation, and nobody wants to miss a page because their phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" during their shift. Plus, the iPhone batteries last longer. I suspect the author's experience might be because he worked in an office where teams are located in closer physical proximity. It can be socially difficult to use an iPhone when the local Android team sits just down the hall.
- corresation 14y ago
  The reason is that we have an oncall rotation, and nobody wants to miss a page because their phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" during their shift. Are you seriously trying to claim that there is a greater risk with a Nexus 4, for instance, of a pager service stopping or a kernel panic? Your post seems utterly ridiculous.
  - archangel_one 14y ago
    See my reply to his sibling post; it's common to dogfood experimental builds, which I assume is what he meant rather than seeing that kind of thing in production builds.
    - corresation 14y ago
      Possibly, but if the option is dogfood experimental builds or use an iPhone, maybe they should not force the dogfooding of experimental builds? Though I don't think that was what they were saying. Their dismissive about Android tone (incl. the battery) means I suspect that they really are animous towards the product. Which might seem odd for a Googler, but actually it could easily be explained as someone who was rejected from that team, dislikes someone on that team, etc.
      - archangel_one 14y ago
        It's not forced for all phones - it's only compulsory on prerelease devices. Presumably nobody would use such a device exclusively if they're on an urgent on-call rotation. I didn't read that much animosity into the post personally...
      - micampe 14y ago
        > Which might seem odd for a Googler, but actually it could easily be explained as someone who was rejected from that team, dislikes someone on that team, etc. Seriously? It’s impossible for a Google employee to not like one of their products? That would be dishonest, no need to ascribe it to malice or retaliation. This should be true at every company. How can you improve your product if you think everything you do is just perfect and there is nothing to be improved?
        corresation 14y ago
        It's absolutely possible if not probable that many Google employees prefer iOS or outright dislike Android. However the scenarios given were the worst sort of FUD that even Android detractors don't resort to (seriously, so anyone who actually needs to be contacted should avoid Android if we're to believe the claim).
- abrahamsen 14y ago
  > phone kernel panicked or "PagerService has stopped" Do Googlers typically use experimental Android builds? Googling for "android kernel panic" gives me pages about overclocked custom roms (and a MacOS X inspired game), and "PagerService has stopped" gives me exactly zero hits.
  - archangel_one 14y ago
    We do quite a bit of internal dogfooding when coming up to major releases - so yes, it's not uncommon to use an experimental build. You don't have to on a production phone, of course.