10 ms·

Larry Page posts about his voice

320 points by raldi 14y ago

sharmanaetor 14y ago
Scott Adams had blogged about it on Nov 8, 2012: http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/larry_pages_voice_update/ http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/larry_pages_voice_update/
- ariwilson 14y ago
  He doesn't have spasmodic dysphonia though...
  - sharmanaetor 14y ago
    Yes. I just thought I'd mention this because I remember reading about it first via Scott Adams blog.
    - k-mcgrady 14y ago
      But it's completely speculative and wrong. It's not really relevant.
Lewton 14y ago
>But I was told that sequential paralysis of one vocal cord following another is extremely rare. " Same thing happened to me.. I was told by my doctor that it was like winning the lottery twice I was not amused
- nolok 14y ago
  One of my friend contracted two different rare disease, and one of his doctor made a similar remark. Sometimes you're really lucky, and sometimes you are really, really unlucky ... It really sucks that so much of those things will probably never be treated properly because there is no incentive to do so. That's why initiatives like this are so great.
  - ttrreeww 14y ago
    Health has nothing to do with luck, take it into your own hands (instead of other's hand) and you will see why. Stop giving up on yourself.
    - jknightco 14y ago
      Ah yes, all of those people with chromosomal diseases should just take their health into their own hands, because it clearly has nothing to do with chance. </sarcasm>
      - ttrreeww 14y ago
        So if your genes are bad, you give up on life? /sarcasm
        jknightco 14y ago
        Not what I said. I was specifically calling you out for this comment: "Health has nothing to do with luck." It was either naïve, ignorant, or a bit of both.
        ttrreeww 14y ago
        You have to work hard for health. If you don't.... you'll regret it by the time it is too late.
- ttrreeww 14y ago
  Doctors have no vested interest in your specific case. Their job is to cater to the lowest common denominator.
- X4 14y ago
  Is Regenerative Medicine already advanced enough to cure that, or is it still a long way to go? I don't know a source that I would say is the definitive and best source of information to learn more about Regenerative Medicine, that's why I encourage you to do your own research. I don't want to convince anyone, just give you hope. =) * Hope you get better dude! Larry Page did sponsor research in the field of his disease, but I don't know why he didn't consider Regenerative Medicine or something else promising. Maybe he didn't know about it, or it's less promising than I think.
abrichr 14y ago
For reference, here's a video of him talking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4Mzlp6mIaC4#t=23s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
- arantius 14y ago
  And before the injury: http://youtu.be/ajxYlACeb4w?t=37s http://youtu.be/ajxYlACeb4w?t=37s
  - huggah 14y ago
    This is after his first vocal cord was paralyzed, but before the second one was also damaged. You can hear what he called "a slightly weaker voice than normal which some people think sounded a little funny"--it quavers a bit. I was hoping to hear his voice before the first injury, but that was before Google was a phenomenon so there might not be any public recordings of him.
carbocation 14y ago
Generally, I appreciate it when people with a condition or a risk factor speak out. I look forward to a day when diseases of all kinds are de-stigmatized, and each voice helps. Curiously, I went to fill out the survey linked from Larry's post, and after I indicated that I don't have vocal cord paralysis, the survey was over for me. Somehow, I'm surprised they weren't interested in collecting denominator / negative information from those without the condition.
- cantrevealname 14y ago
  > after I indicated that I don't have vocal cord paralysis, the survey was over They're not collecting information from people without the condition. This is simply their way of getting rid of people who shouldn't be filling in the survey. I think it's actually a reasonable UI decision. They could have done it one of two ways: 1. Have the page say, "Fill in the survey ONLY IF you have the condition". 2. Anyone can fill in the survey. But the first question determines whether you are a candidate or not. They chose #2.
  - carbocation 14y ago
    Yes, it's a nice UI decision. I'm surprised by the business decision. My feeling is that there is often value in collecting information on people without the condition (negative data), should those people somehow feel compelled to participate.
    - bcoates 14y ago
      I think they realize that the survey prompt is self-selecting enough that they can't get a valid sample of non-sufferers through it, and will have to go elsewhere for a baseline.
    - interurban 14y ago
      I generally agree, but this might be a case where there's already a lot of information about people without the condition and as he says, very little about those with it.
aashaykumar92 14y ago
An interesting point was brought from a WSJ article [1] about Paige's situation: "Page’s condition has worried the collective tech world and Google investors". Unfortunately, the article doesn't elaborate on this claim so it is tough to determine how true this is but like I said, it is an interesting point and thought-provoking. [1] http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/14/google-ceo-larry-page-reveals-he-has-vocal-cord-paralysis/?mod=e2tw http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/14/google-ceo-larry-page...
bane 14y ago
On Bloomberg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe4fpGUL_q4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe4fpGUL_q4
chimeracoder 14y ago
> I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2003. This is a fairly common benign inflammatory condition of the thyroid which causes me no problems. Larry is indeed very lucky. One of my good friends was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis after ten years of misdiagnosed and ignored symptoms. (It's a very rare disease, and many of the early signs - weight gain, mood swings, fatigue, etc. - can easily be mistaken for typical adolescence). In Larry's case, it seems they caught the disease and began treatment before it completely destroyed the thyroid, which is a real danger - if the disease isn't diagnosed by this point, treatment becomes much more difficult, and patients develop heart problems. Unfortunately, my friend has not been so lucky, and has been suffering with the complications for several years now.
- foobarqux 14y ago
  > (It's a very rare disease, and many of the early signs - weight gain, mood swings, fatigue, etc. - can easily be mistaken for typical adolescence) Thyroid problems are routinely misdiagnosed as non-existent, not only for adolescents. Hypothyroidism in particular may be routinely under-diagnosed due to unspecific symptoms and far too stringent thresholds on thyroid levels. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
  - bcoates 14y ago
    To the downvoter: if the above is wrong, it's non-obviously wrong enough that it deserves an explanation.
    - philwelch 14y ago
      (Not the downvoter.) I've read that site several times. Frankly, while I'm sure a lot of patients don't do well enough on levothyroxine or need more intensive tests than the TSH, I'm very skeptical of people who develop fanatical, rigid opinions about how to treat hypothyroidism without extremely careful and rigorous study, largely because I'm very skeptical about people who develop fanatical, rigid opinions about anything without extremely careful and rigorous study.
edouard1234567 14y ago
Love the comment from Sergey : "Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully"
plg 14y ago
While I think it's laudable that Larry Page would donate what I presume is a non-trivial amount of money to fund research and treatment into a condition he himself has, i.e. a voice disorder, at the same time I wonder whether he could get a bigger bang for his buck by funding the low hanging fruit. Maximum impact per dollar. Bill Gates foundation has taken this route and I think it's the right thing to do. There's a part of Larry's story that feels slightly egotistical.
- jtchang 14y ago
  Your comment is shortsighted. This is not at all egotistical. Rare diseases are generally not huge money makers for big pharma. That is why there isn't as much money being devoted to them to find a cure. The fact that Larry Page is donating is a great reason to capture some of that long tail for whatever reason.
  - crapshoot101 14y ago
    I don't care about the egotistical part, but the point about rare diseases is dead wrong - those are exactly the diseases, if suffered by the right (read: wealthy, Western part of the world) that are enormously lucrative to pharma. The diseases that are not lucrative to pharma are things like malaria.
    - ok_craig 14y ago
      The things most lucrative to pharma are problems whose number of affected patients (x axis) and price to treat (y axis) create a box with the highest volume on a graph. That is, things which are expensive to treat, yet treatable, which many people have (common, not rare). Things like diabetes, cancer, etc. I don't think Hashimoto's thyroiditis would fall into that category.
      - jtmoulia 14y ago
        But, both of your driving factors, affected patients, and price to treat, are in turn driven by other factors such as competition, targeting symptoms, and the cost of research. While perhaps not blockbuster, orphan drugs for rare diseases can turn quite a profit for pharmaceuticals. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2012/05/02/how-committed-is-big-pharma-to-rare-diseases/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2012/05/02/how-com... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323926104578273900197322758.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732392610457827...
edwardunknown 14y ago
I know he has the best voice therapists in the world and there's no chance he'll ever read this but: kazoo. That's my advice for anyone who has to give a speech or get their voice in shape for any reason. Ukulele & a kazoo 45 minutes every day.
- foobarqux 14y ago
  I saw a study that claimed improvement in sufferers of sleep apnea who played the didgeridoo.
  - edwardunknown 14y ago
    That makes perfect sense for breath training, I came upon the kazoo after reading that an early 1900s opera singer never did vocal exercises, she just hummed to warm up. The kazoo works the breath and the vocal cords which are tougher than other muscles, so you can and should work them everyday without fear of injury.
    - foobarqux 14y ago
      I think the idea was not "breath training" but to reinforce the muscles in the walls of the throat which can relax and obstruct the airway causing apnea.
    - nandemo 14y ago
      Humming is a vocal exercise. It engages the vocal cords. Not sure why you think humming/playing kazoo should be a good exercise for someone who has damage in the vocal cords. E.g. the common medical advice for someone who with a hoarse throat (due to a cold etc) is to let it rest, i.e., refrain from speaking. But I'd be happy to see studies proving that wrong.
    - Bud 14y ago
      The vocal folds are emphatically NOT tougher than other muscles. They are in fact quite fragile and easy to damage compared to other muscles. It is irresponsible of you to post this.
pud 14y ago
> Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully. This is almost the exact same thing members of the band Def Leppard said about their drummer when he lost his arm in a tour bus accident. They said the limitation caused him to become a better drummer. Def Leppard subsequently became one of the most successful hard rock bands in history when their first album post-accident, "Hysteria," sold 20M copies. Several of the beats on that album became legendary, including the beat to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" [1] I wonder how we could teach ourselves these lessons (without injury, of course). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIB9Y4OFPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIB9Y4OFPs
- braveheart1723 14y ago
  Ask anyone who knows anything bout music - Rick Allen is a not a great drummer. John Bonham, Dave Lombardo, Bill Ward, Peart, even Dave Grohl is better than Rick Allen.
  - assholesRppl2 14y ago
    Rick Allen is a great person for continuing with his drumming career with one (1) arm. Nobody's claiming he's a "great drummer" and your insensitivity doesn't contribute much here. The comment section is not a record store. Many people have stronger voices than Page, but the point still stands that it's how you approach your adversity that counts.
    - jusben1369 14y ago
      In all fairness to Mel Gibson above "Several of the beats on that album became legendary" would seem to imply he was a great drummer. I agree it's rather odd to take issue with what was an unusual analogy to begin with but it was hardly an outlandish response/comment.
      - jebblue 14y ago
        Mel Gibson? I don't get that but his response was fair and considered and correct. The OP trolled a highly subjective argument about who's the best drummer which completely missed the point of the original comment and the entire story.
rdtsc 14y ago
It is interesting that he shared this. I like it. I wonder how it will be perceived. Will stock traders buy or sell GOOG differently now that they found about it (or found out that the public found out) about this issue. Did he have to get the approval of the PR or board of directors before disclosing it.
throwaway1980 14y ago
> So I’ve arranged to fund a significant research program through the Voice Health Institute, which he will lead. I find this rather awkward. Here we have someone with a ton of money giving a tiny fraction of it away in a very public manner to a cause that seeks to remedy one of his own personal afflictions. He comes off looking like a good guy, and in the process generates excellent PR for his company and social network. What is the downside? It's as if there isn't one. I don't know why, but it gives me the squeamy jibbly icks. Same vibe as when he gave away flu shots at Target. I guess I have the following questions. Why do the rich need to be our saviors? Do we really need to justify extreme wealth disparity with extreme condescension? Can't we just shuffle some defense money to healthcare and make democratic decisions about how to allocate healthcare funds? Or, god forbid, raise taxes on the wealthy? Is the answer really, sorry, no, that's how it has to work in "free market" capitalism?
- brown9-2 14y ago
  It's not a binary decision. Those with the means can still chose to donate some of their money to causes they like, and we as a society can (or should) still chose the way in which we want to allocate public funds towards more health spending or away from defense spending. Choosing to donate to a cause that affects him personally is no different than when people create charities or foundations or donate money to fund research for diseases that affect their immediate family members - which happens quite often.
  - throwaway1980 14y ago
    I agree, more or less, because certainly there's a long history of people creating charities to fill in the gaps left by government. It's the way he's doing it, on Google+ and as the CEO of Google that I don't like. Maybe it's just because of the mixing of personal and work life or something. I don't know why, it just gives me a creepy feeling like I wouldn't want to get involved with the guy. Maybe I'm just jealous because I don't have my own fuck you money.
- vxNsr 14y ago
  It has more to do with the fact that most rich people know that they can't trust the government to use their money efficiently. In both cases, in a perfect world the rich would be our "saviors", but in the case of higher taxes you just wouldn't know, I like it the other way, I want to know who I'm benefiting from so I can say a proper "thank you".
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
photorized 14y ago
I hope he gets better. I also wonder what happened to selfless, anonymous donations. His affliction doesn't seem (medically or statistically) like something that would require rallying people to the cause, raising awareness, etc. There are conditions that matter, that affect millions (incl. children), that don't let people live normal lives (not kitesurfing - very basic everyday stuff). The Target flu shot promo didn't seem genuine, neither does this.
- jfoster 14y ago
  Why does the donation need to be selfless? This one almost certainly isn't, but I don't see anyone claiming that it is, and I don't see any reason why it needs to be.
Mz 14y ago
Probably not related but it reminded me of Scott Adams' voice disorder, which I only knew about because I knew a fan of his who had the same thing: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15446515/ns/health-health_care/t/dilbert-creator-recovers-rare-disorder/ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15446515/ns/health-health_care/t/d...
jayfuerstenberg 14y ago
My brain is screwed up. I initially read this as "Larry King posts about his voice". Seriously though, I hope Larry Page will recover. It was sad to see Roger Ebert lose a bit of his zest when he could no longer speak and I wouldn't want any more people to be forever silent.
jekl 14y ago
Couldn't help to notice: http://i41.tinypic.com/xbszk.png http://i41.tinypic.com/xbszk.png
- truetaurus 14y ago
  Thats hilarious!

320 points by raldi 14y ago

Scott Adams had blogged about it on Nov 8, 2012: http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/larry_pages_voice_update/ http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/larry_pages_voice_update/

ariwilson 14y ago
He doesn't have spasmodic dysphonia though...
- sharmanaetor 14y ago
  Yes. I just thought I'd mention this because I remember reading about it first via Scott Adams blog.
  - k-mcgrady 14y ago
    But it's completely speculative and wrong. It's not really relevant.

Lewton 14y ago

>But I was told that sequential paralysis of one vocal cord following another is extremely rare. " Same thing happened to me.. I was told by my doctor that it was like winning the lottery twice I was not amused

nolok 14y ago
One of my friend contracted two different rare disease, and one of his doctor made a similar remark. Sometimes you're really lucky, and sometimes you are really, really unlucky ... It really sucks that so much of those things will probably never be treated properly because there is no incentive to do so. That's why initiatives like this are so great.
- ttrreeww 14y ago
  Health has nothing to do with luck, take it into your own hands (instead of other's hand) and you will see why. Stop giving up on yourself.
  - jknightco 14y ago
    Ah yes, all of those people with chromosomal diseases should just take their health into their own hands, because it clearly has nothing to do with chance. </sarcasm>
    - ttrreeww 14y ago
      So if your genes are bad, you give up on life? /sarcasm
      - jknightco 14y ago
        Not what I said. I was specifically calling you out for this comment: "Health has nothing to do with luck." It was either naïve, ignorant, or a bit of both.
        ttrreeww 14y ago
        You have to work hard for health. If you don't.... you'll regret it by the time it is too late.
ttrreeww 14y ago
Doctors have no vested interest in your specific case. Their job is to cater to the lowest common denominator.
X4 14y ago
Is Regenerative Medicine already advanced enough to cure that, or is it still a long way to go? I don't know a source that I would say is the definitive and best source of information to learn more about Regenerative Medicine, that's why I encourage you to do your own research. I don't want to convince anyone, just give you hope. =) * Hope you get better dude! Larry Page did sponsor research in the field of his disease, but I don't know why he didn't consider Regenerative Medicine or something else promising. Maybe he didn't know about it, or it's less promising than I think.

abrichr 14y ago

For reference, here's a video of him talking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4Mzlp6mIaC4#t=23s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...

arantius 14y ago
And before the injury: http://youtu.be/ajxYlACeb4w?t=37s http://youtu.be/ajxYlACeb4w?t=37s
- huggah 14y ago
  This is after his first vocal cord was paralyzed, but before the second one was also damaged. You can hear what he called "a slightly weaker voice than normal which some people think sounded a little funny"--it quavers a bit. I was hoping to hear his voice before the first injury, but that was before Google was a phenomenon so there might not be any public recordings of him.

carbocation 14y ago

Generally, I appreciate it when people with a condition or a risk factor speak out. I look forward to a day when diseases of all kinds are de-stigmatized, and each voice helps. Curiously, I went to fill out the survey linked from Larry's post, and after I indicated that I don't have vocal cord paralysis, the survey was over for me. Somehow, I'm surprised they weren't interested in collecting denominator / negative information from those without the condition.

cantrevealname 14y ago
> after I indicated that I don't have vocal cord paralysis, the survey was over They're not collecting information from people without the condition. This is simply their way of getting rid of people who shouldn't be filling in the survey. I think it's actually a reasonable UI decision. They could have done it one of two ways: 1. Have the page say, "Fill in the survey ONLY IF you have the condition". 2. Anyone can fill in the survey. But the first question determines whether you are a candidate or not. They chose #2.
- carbocation 14y ago
  Yes, it's a nice UI decision. I'm surprised by the business decision. My feeling is that there is often value in collecting information on people without the condition (negative data), should those people somehow feel compelled to participate.
  - bcoates 14y ago
    I think they realize that the survey prompt is self-selecting enough that they can't get a valid sample of non-sufferers through it, and will have to go elsewhere for a baseline.
  - interurban 14y ago
    I generally agree, but this might be a case where there's already a lot of information about people without the condition and as he says, very little about those with it.

aashaykumar92 14y ago

An interesting point was brought from a WSJ article [1] about Paige's situation: "Page’s condition has worried the collective tech world and Google investors". Unfortunately, the article doesn't elaborate on this claim so it is tough to determine how true this is but like I said, it is an interesting point and thought-provoking. [1] http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/14/google-ceo-larry-page-reveals-he-has-vocal-cord-paralysis/?mod=e2tw http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/05/14/google-ceo-larry-page...

bane 14y ago

On Bloomberg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe4fpGUL_q4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe4fpGUL_q4

chimeracoder 14y ago

> I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis in 2003. This is a fairly common benign inflammatory condition of the thyroid which causes me no problems. Larry is indeed very lucky. One of my good friends was diagnosed with Hashimoto's thyroiditis after ten years of misdiagnosed and ignored symptoms. (It's a very rare disease, and many of the early signs - weight gain, mood swings, fatigue, etc. - can easily be mistaken for typical adolescence). In Larry's case, it seems they caught the disease and began treatment before it completely destroyed the thyroid, which is a real danger - if the disease isn't diagnosed by this point, treatment becomes much more difficult, and patients develop heart problems. Unfortunately, my friend has not been so lucky, and has been suffering with the complications for several years now.

foobarqux 14y ago
> (It's a very rare disease, and many of the early signs - weight gain, mood swings, fatigue, etc. - can easily be mistaken for typical adolescence) Thyroid problems are routinely misdiagnosed as non-existent, not only for adolescents. Hypothyroidism in particular may be routinely under-diagnosed due to unspecific symptoms and far too stringent thresholds on thyroid levels. http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com
- bcoates 14y ago
  To the downvoter: if the above is wrong, it's non-obviously wrong enough that it deserves an explanation.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    (Not the downvoter.) I've read that site several times. Frankly, while I'm sure a lot of patients don't do well enough on levothyroxine or need more intensive tests than the TSH, I'm very skeptical of people who develop fanatical, rigid opinions about how to treat hypothyroidism without extremely careful and rigorous study, largely because I'm very skeptical about people who develop fanatical, rigid opinions about anything without extremely careful and rigorous study.

edouard1234567 14y ago

Love the comment from Sergey : "Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully"

plg 14y ago

While I think it's laudable that Larry Page would donate what I presume is a non-trivial amount of money to fund research and treatment into a condition he himself has, i.e. a voice disorder, at the same time I wonder whether he could get a bigger bang for his buck by funding the low hanging fruit. Maximum impact per dollar. Bill Gates foundation has taken this route and I think it's the right thing to do. There's a part of Larry's story that feels slightly egotistical.

jtchang 14y ago
Your comment is shortsighted. This is not at all egotistical. Rare diseases are generally not huge money makers for big pharma. That is why there isn't as much money being devoted to them to find a cure. The fact that Larry Page is donating is a great reason to capture some of that long tail for whatever reason.
- crapshoot101 14y ago
  I don't care about the egotistical part, but the point about rare diseases is dead wrong - those are exactly the diseases, if suffered by the right (read: wealthy, Western part of the world) that are enormously lucrative to pharma. The diseases that are not lucrative to pharma are things like malaria.
  - ok_craig 14y ago
    The things most lucrative to pharma are problems whose number of affected patients (x axis) and price to treat (y axis) create a box with the highest volume on a graph. That is, things which are expensive to treat, yet treatable, which many people have (common, not rare). Things like diabetes, cancer, etc. I don't think Hashimoto's thyroiditis would fall into that category.
    - jtmoulia 14y ago
      But, both of your driving factors, affected patients, and price to treat, are in turn driven by other factors such as competition, targeting symptoms, and the cost of research. While perhaps not blockbuster, orphan drugs for rare diseases can turn quite a profit for pharmaceuticals. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2012/05/02/how-committed-is-big-pharma-to-rare-diseases/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2012/05/02/how-com... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323926104578273900197322758.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142412788732392610457827...

edwardunknown 14y ago

I know he has the best voice therapists in the world and there's no chance he'll ever read this but: kazoo. That's my advice for anyone who has to give a speech or get their voice in shape for any reason. Ukulele & a kazoo 45 minutes every day.

foobarqux 14y ago
I saw a study that claimed improvement in sufferers of sleep apnea who played the didgeridoo.
- edwardunknown 14y ago
  That makes perfect sense for breath training, I came upon the kazoo after reading that an early 1900s opera singer never did vocal exercises, she just hummed to warm up. The kazoo works the breath and the vocal cords which are tougher than other muscles, so you can and should work them everyday without fear of injury.
  - foobarqux 14y ago
    I think the idea was not "breath training" but to reinforce the muscles in the walls of the throat which can relax and obstruct the airway causing apnea.
  - nandemo 14y ago
    Humming is a vocal exercise. It engages the vocal cords. Not sure why you think humming/playing kazoo should be a good exercise for someone who has damage in the vocal cords. E.g. the common medical advice for someone who with a hoarse throat (due to a cold etc) is to let it rest, i.e., refrain from speaking. But I'd be happy to see studies proving that wrong.
  - Bud 14y ago
    The vocal folds are emphatically NOT tougher than other muscles. They are in fact quite fragile and easy to damage compared to other muscles. It is irresponsible of you to post this.

pud 14y ago

> Sergey says I’m probably a better CEO because I choose my words more carefully. This is almost the exact same thing members of the band Def Leppard said about their drummer when he lost his arm in a tour bus accident. They said the limitation caused him to become a better drummer. Def Leppard subsequently became one of the most successful hard rock bands in history when their first album post-accident, "Hysteria," sold 20M copies. Several of the beats on that album became legendary, including the beat to "Pour Some Sugar On Me" [1] I wonder how we could teach ourselves these lessons (without injury, of course). [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIB9Y4OFPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UIB9Y4OFPs

braveheart1723 14y ago
Ask anyone who knows anything bout music - Rick Allen is a not a great drummer. John Bonham, Dave Lombardo, Bill Ward, Peart, even Dave Grohl is better than Rick Allen.
- assholesRppl2 14y ago
  Rick Allen is a great person for continuing with his drumming career with one (1) arm. Nobody's claiming he's a "great drummer" and your insensitivity doesn't contribute much here. The comment section is not a record store. Many people have stronger voices than Page, but the point still stands that it's how you approach your adversity that counts.
  - jusben1369 14y ago
    In all fairness to Mel Gibson above "Several of the beats on that album became legendary" would seem to imply he was a great drummer. I agree it's rather odd to take issue with what was an unusual analogy to begin with but it was hardly an outlandish response/comment.
    - jebblue 14y ago
      Mel Gibson? I don't get that but his response was fair and considered and correct. The OP trolled a highly subjective argument about who's the best drummer which completely missed the point of the original comment and the entire story.

rdtsc 14y ago

It is interesting that he shared this. I like it. I wonder how it will be perceived. Will stock traders buy or sell GOOG differently now that they found about it (or found out that the public found out) about this issue. Did he have to get the approval of the PR or board of directors before disclosing it.

throwaway1980 14y ago

> So I’ve arranged to fund a significant research program through the Voice Health Institute, which he will lead. I find this rather awkward. Here we have someone with a ton of money giving a tiny fraction of it away in a very public manner to a cause that seeks to remedy one of his own personal afflictions. He comes off looking like a good guy, and in the process generates excellent PR for his company and social network. What is the downside? It's as if there isn't one. I don't know why, but it gives me the squeamy jibbly icks. Same vibe as when he gave away flu shots at Target. I guess I have the following questions. Why do the rich need to be our saviors? Do we really need to justify extreme wealth disparity with extreme condescension? Can't we just shuffle some defense money to healthcare and make democratic decisions about how to allocate healthcare funds? Or, god forbid, raise taxes on the wealthy? Is the answer really, sorry, no, that's how it has to work in "free market" capitalism?

brown9-2 14y ago
It's not a binary decision. Those with the means can still chose to donate some of their money to causes they like, and we as a society can (or should) still chose the way in which we want to allocate public funds towards more health spending or away from defense spending. Choosing to donate to a cause that affects him personally is no different than when people create charities or foundations or donate money to fund research for diseases that affect their immediate family members - which happens quite often.
- throwaway1980 14y ago
  I agree, more or less, because certainly there's a long history of people creating charities to fill in the gaps left by government. It's the way he's doing it, on Google+ and as the CEO of Google that I don't like. Maybe it's just because of the mixing of personal and work life or something. I don't know why, it just gives me a creepy feeling like I wouldn't want to get involved with the guy. Maybe I'm just jealous because I don't have my own fuck you money.
vxNsr 14y ago
It has more to do with the fact that most rich people know that they can't trust the government to use their money efficiently. In both cases, in a perfect world the rich would be our "saviors", but in the case of higher taxes you just wouldn't know, I like it the other way, I want to know who I'm benefiting from so I can say a proper "thank you".

deleted 14y ago

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photorized 14y ago

I hope he gets better. I also wonder what happened to selfless, anonymous donations. His affliction doesn't seem (medically or statistically) like something that would require rallying people to the cause, raising awareness, etc. There are conditions that matter, that affect millions (incl. children), that don't let people live normal lives (not kitesurfing - very basic everyday stuff). The Target flu shot promo didn't seem genuine, neither does this.

jfoster 14y ago
Why does the donation need to be selfless? This one almost certainly isn't, but I don't see anyone claiming that it is, and I don't see any reason why it needs to be.

Mz 14y ago

Probably not related but it reminded me of Scott Adams' voice disorder, which I only knew about because I knew a fan of his who had the same thing: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15446515/ns/health-health_care/t/dilbert-creator-recovers-rare-disorder/ http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15446515/ns/health-health_care/t/d...

jayfuerstenberg 14y ago

My brain is screwed up. I initially read this as "Larry King posts about his voice". Seriously though, I hope Larry Page will recover. It was sad to see Roger Ebert lose a bit of his zest when he could no longer speak and I wouldn't want any more people to be forever silent.

jekl 14y ago

Couldn't help to notice: http://i41.tinypic.com/xbszk.png http://i41.tinypic.com/xbszk.png

truetaurus 14y ago
Thats hilarious!