3 ms·

"under the guise"? Pretend for one yoctosecond that you work at Google, disagree with the decision to shut down Reader, and are in a position to try to make th

"under the guise"? Pretend for one yoctosecond that you work at Google, disagree with the decision to shut down Reader, and are in a position to try to make the product you're working on help fill the void. That people like you assume it's malice, or some conspiracy or evil plot, just saddens me. Full disclosure: I have empathy, and own GOOG stock.

OGinparadise 14y ago
Pretend for one yoctosecond that you work at Google, disagree with the decision to shut down Reader, and are in a position to try to make the product you're working on help fill the void. So, Google would allow another team to create a clone of what they shut down after all these years? Their excuse was that they need to focus on fewer products
- VikingCoder 14y ago
  Yeah, they could. For one, Reader could be built on a very different set of APIs that makes it inherently difficult to maintain. That's speculation, but it's certainly the kind of thing that has happened at every large company I've ever worked at.
jcampbell1 14y ago
It is possible that Mr Zunger woke up this morning and thought , "This is a great oppourtunity to get a bunch of vague and unsubstantiated feedback on a product that is being shutdown. I'd like to spend half my day moderating comments". It could also be that he wanted to redirect some of the passion for google reader in a positive direction. Make Google a bit more empathetic and friendly. It could be some combination of the two. I don't see malice here. I think Mr. Zunger made a smart move. Now if he actually thought he was going to learn something he didn't already know from those comments, that would sadden me. He is smart enough to realize that comments like those have a huge power-user sample bias and are mostly useless. My lemmings comment was way out of bounds.
- VikingCoder 14y ago
  Why would that sadden you? If you worked there, wouldn't you do something similar?
  - jcampbell1 14y ago
    Yes, I would do the same thing. The only mistake I see is the way they handled the Google Reader announcement, which Mr Zunger wasn't involved in. Then again, if I were so smart, I wouldn't have made the lemmings comment. I meant it as a mild joke, though you and other people interpreted it as an serious insult to 500 people and Mr Zunger's character.

OGinparadise 14y ago

Pretend for one yoctosecond that you work at Google, disagree with the decision to shut down Reader, and are in a position to try to make the product you're working on help fill the void. So, Google would allow another team to create a clone of what they shut down after all these years? Their excuse was that they need to focus on fewer products

VikingCoder 14y ago
Yeah, they could. For one, Reader could be built on a very different set of APIs that makes it inherently difficult to maintain. That's speculation, but it's certainly the kind of thing that has happened at every large company I've ever worked at.

jcampbell1 14y ago

It is possible that Mr Zunger woke up this morning and thought , "This is a great oppourtunity to get a bunch of vague and unsubstantiated feedback on a product that is being shutdown. I'd like to spend half my day moderating comments". It could also be that he wanted to redirect some of the passion for google reader in a positive direction. Make Google a bit more empathetic and friendly. It could be some combination of the two. I don't see malice here. I think Mr. Zunger made a smart move. Now if he actually thought he was going to learn something he didn't already know from those comments, that would sadden me. He is smart enough to realize that comments like those have a huge power-user sample bias and are mostly useless. My lemmings comment was way out of bounds.

VikingCoder 14y ago
Why would that sadden you? If you worked there, wouldn't you do something similar?
- jcampbell1 14y ago
  Yes, I would do the same thing. The only mistake I see is the way they handled the Google Reader announcement, which Mr Zunger wasn't involved in. Then again, if I were so smart, I wouldn't have made the lemmings comment. I meant it as a mild joke, though you and other people interpreted it as an serious insult to 500 people and Mr Zunger's character.