Google Strategy

[c9]

I think their strategy is to do such* cool things that nobody will care when they turn evil. I'm lazy, so I'll be one of the uncaring too. Gotta work on that.

* that one feature now replaces the late kitchener.filmcan.ca. Which is good, because getting showtimes from the Empire and Cineplex Odeon websites is the suck, as the kids say.

Comments

agreed

[petele.livejournal.com]

I'm actually starting to wonder about how "evil" google actually is. if MSFT did some of the things that google did, there would be a huge outcry of privacy and such, but since google is so un-evil, they can't do such a thing.

for example, now that they have gmail, and keep a cookie about you and where you live, ads can be much more tailored directly to you and your area.

Re: agreed

[c9.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. The difference with google is their productive, useful use of that cookie, paired behind the scenes with the potential evil. Basically they're just doubleclick with 51% non-evil content. :)

[cap-hill-latte.livejournal.com]

I used that second feature to link-slap Brian after our (very heated) argument about how many ounces there were in a pint. :-).

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

I agree about the angle that Google is evil, but no one notices because the stuff is so cool. The corrilary is that MSFT is evil and everyone notices because of their spaghetti-like approach to development*. The lesson to learn here is that you can be as evil as you like as long as you're selective and don't try to be too evil all at once. Start small. Don't do huge roll-outs all at once that kill your servers and generate user ill-will. Screw as few people as possible, or (preferably) none at all.

That raises an interesting question: has anyone ever claimed that Google ruined their life? Has anyone tried to sue Google over flaws in their products? I assume someone has, since a company the size of Google attracts lawsuits the way Duffman attracts alkies, but that it hasn't made news because the notion is so absurd.

There are lots of companies out there that would offer up their CEO's first-born to have the squeeky clean image that Google has, and be able to get away with the stuff that they do. Then again, there are a lot of other (non-tech) companies getting away with far worse...

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*throw a bunch of stuff at the wall and see what sticks.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Be careful: Microsoft's *development* is not spaghetti. It's their product-evolution/innovation that is.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I mean _product_ development, not _code_ development. So we're talking about the same thing :-)