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Perfect. A much friendlier, much more social, much more corporate 1984. (Another heartbreaking work of staggering genius?) edit: Yes, it's pretty transparentl

Perfect. A much friendlier, much more social, much more corporate 1984. (Another heartbreaking work of staggering genius?) edit: Yes, it's pretty transparently a reference to Google. Zings sound more like tweets, though. And monitoring everything has turned out to be primarily the NSA's job, but I guess he finished the book before that scandal came to real light.

theoj 13y ago
It seems to be a subtle critique of Google. I read it as Circle = Google, ad business where Mae works = AdWords, tablets = Android, zings = tweets / Google+ shares, new camera = Google Glass.
- kawera 13y ago
  Or maybe a critique of Google + FB + TW, if not of the pervasive "ideology" that permeates the whole social media/cloud everywhere discourse.
- kazagistar 13y ago
  You don't even have to work for a social media company to see the "community building" pressure; any modern, web-friendly, "agile" firm is trying to get its employees to invest themselves into the company. If you are part of the community, its harder to switch jobs.
  - elwell 13y ago
    If you write or know of a blog post about this, I would be interested in reading it.
    - felisGoodman 13y ago
      exactly
    - visakanv 13y ago
      Me too.
varjag 13y ago
Odd, until I read that, I thought it refers to Apple. The culture of neatness, perfectionism, gadget obsession, even the motto stones that reek APPL slogans.
- hrkristian 13y ago
  Apple is generally referred to as the "company where millions; billions want to be" so like you that's where I initially landed. I don't see how your parent made the transition from modernized 1984 (which was very astute IMO) to Google. This to me is a critique of corporate culture, and, perhaps more than anything of Silicon Valley culture. Seems to me the author did a good job of keeping the text open, the comment field is rife with personal bias and it took me two iterations to get rid of the knee-jerk Google defense.
- ricardobeat 13y ago
  "every wall made of glass", customer experience, blonde wood, ergonomically perfect desks and organic mattresses, engraved tablets, etc, all clearly Apple references.
  - bennyg 13y ago
    To me, it's a clear blend of both of the giant tech monoliths (and more, really) and a satire of the entire tech culture where the next sharing app is raising obscene amounts of money for an exit to a handful of monoliths.
  - slashdotaccount 13y ago
    actually this office style was popularized by bloomberg http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/nyregion/bloombergs-bullpen-candidates-debate-its-future.html http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/nyregion/bloombergs-bul...
Kluny 13y ago
I wouldn't say genius - I found the moral to be about as unsubtle as a jackhammer, and the writing style irritating.
- angersock 13y ago
  Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Most folks still haven't figured out the privacy and security implications of using social networks.
jonah 13y ago
Or maybe A Brave New World. Neil Postman compares them: http://www.prosebeforehos.com/image-of-the-day/08/24/huxley-vs-orwell-infinite-distraction-or-government-oppression/ http://www.prosebeforehos.com/image-of-the-day/08/24/huxley-...
- philwelch 13y ago
  I find it richly ironic when that comic gets posted on these blog networks. Hint: look at the rest of the web page.
  - jonah 13y ago
    Yep.
  - callum85 13y ago
    Can you be specific so I don't have to hunt around for what you're hinting at?
    - philwelch 13y ago
      Not sure how much "hunting" it takes, but here's a comment I posted about this a year ago. The specifics have changed but the general pattern is plain to see. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4608301 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4608301
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
Someone 13y ago
I think it is more general a critique of current culture (a combination if "you haven't done anything until you have told the world" and "you must have something to hide if you do something but don't tell the world about it", the latter a bit more implicit) Apart from the hardware, it could be Facebook, too. And, surely, it could be Microsoft, in a few years time. "Zing" is a beautiful term, by the way. It resembles 'to sing' (especially for those who speak Dutch), with all its positive correlations. And, of course, the name is taken; both zing.com and zing.nl exist.
- jellicle 13y ago
  "Zing" in English has negative connotations; to "zing" someone is to make a witty but hurtful remark to them. So "zing" is both the kind of term that COULD be taken over by a social media service (like "tweet" has been taken over), and at the same time is a negative commentary on what you're actually doing when you use that social media service. I assume that that was the meaning intended, since the author is writing in English.

theoj 13y ago

It seems to be a subtle critique of Google. I read it as Circle = Google, ad business where Mae works = AdWords, tablets = Android, zings = tweets / Google+ shares, new camera = Google Glass.

kawera 13y ago
Or maybe a critique of Google + FB + TW, if not of the pervasive "ideology" that permeates the whole social media/cloud everywhere discourse.
kazagistar 13y ago
You don't even have to work for a social media company to see the "community building" pressure; any modern, web-friendly, "agile" firm is trying to get its employees to invest themselves into the company. If you are part of the community, its harder to switch jobs.
- elwell 13y ago
  If you write or know of a blog post about this, I would be interested in reading it.
  - felisGoodman 13y ago
    exactly
  - visakanv 13y ago
    Me too.

varjag 13y ago

Odd, until I read that, I thought it refers to Apple. The culture of neatness, perfectionism, gadget obsession, even the motto stones that reek APPL slogans.

hrkristian 13y ago
Apple is generally referred to as the "company where millions; billions want to be" so like you that's where I initially landed. I don't see how your parent made the transition from modernized 1984 (which was very astute IMO) to Google. This to me is a critique of corporate culture, and, perhaps more than anything of Silicon Valley culture. Seems to me the author did a good job of keeping the text open, the comment field is rife with personal bias and it took me two iterations to get rid of the knee-jerk Google defense.
ricardobeat 13y ago
"every wall made of glass", customer experience, blonde wood, ergonomically perfect desks and organic mattresses, engraved tablets, etc, all clearly Apple references.
- bennyg 13y ago
  To me, it's a clear blend of both of the giant tech monoliths (and more, really) and a satire of the entire tech culture where the next sharing app is raising obscene amounts of money for an exit to a handful of monoliths.
- slashdotaccount 13y ago
  actually this office style was popularized by bloomberg http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/nyregion/bloombergs-bullpen-candidates-debate-its-future.html http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/nyregion/bloombergs-bul...

Kluny 13y ago

I wouldn't say genius - I found the moral to be about as unsubtle as a jackhammer, and the writing style irritating.

angersock 13y ago
Maybe that's not such a bad thing. Most folks still haven't figured out the privacy and security implications of using social networks.

jonah 13y ago

Or maybe A Brave New World. Neil Postman compares them: http://www.prosebeforehos.com/image-of-the-day/08/24/huxley-vs-orwell-infinite-distraction-or-government-oppression/ http://www.prosebeforehos.com/image-of-the-day/08/24/huxley-...

philwelch 13y ago
I find it richly ironic when that comic gets posted on these blog networks. Hint: look at the rest of the web page.
- jonah 13y ago
  Yep.
- callum85 13y ago
  Can you be specific so I don't have to hunt around for what you're hinting at?
  - philwelch 13y ago
    Not sure how much "hunting" it takes, but here's a comment I posted about this a year ago. The specifics have changed but the general pattern is plain to see. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4608301 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4608301
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

Someone 13y ago

I think it is more general a critique of current culture (a combination if "you haven't done anything until you have told the world" and "you must have something to hide if you do something but don't tell the world about it", the latter a bit more implicit) Apart from the hardware, it could be Facebook, too. And, surely, it could be Microsoft, in a few years time. "Zing" is a beautiful term, by the way. It resembles 'to sing' (especially for those who speak Dutch), with all its positive correlations. And, of course, the name is taken; both zing.com and zing.nl exist.

jellicle 13y ago
"Zing" in English has negative connotations; to "zing" someone is to make a witty but hurtful remark to them. So "zing" is both the kind of term that COULD be taken over by a social media service (like "tweet" has been taken over), and at the same time is a negative commentary on what you're actually doing when you use that social media service. I assume that that was the meaning intended, since the author is writing in English.