5 ms·

I have never worked at google, but when I was in college 10+ years ago the allure was that they were making all kinds of cool new stuff, and they had enough mon

by WWLink 1y ago

I have never worked at google, but when I was in college 10+ years ago the allure was that they were making all kinds of cool new stuff, and they had enough money to not just pay you well, but they (could afford to) have 80/20 time where you could work on developing cool new stuff while on the clock! But really, Google was cool. Google was hip. So was Apple. Lots of cool things were coming from those companies between 2000 and 2012 or so. My interest in Meta was similar - the reality labs projects seemed really cool when I looked into them back before all the giant cuts lol. In addition to those things, these were all seen as companies run by engineers, where the software and the tech was seen as the big core thing the company cared about. People thought programmers at google weren't treated as "cost centers" like they often are at companies where software is just a piece of the puzzle. But yea, times change. In a way a lot of it was just infatuation and dreams that may not have had a basis in reality.

johannes1234321 1y ago
> may not have had a basis in reality. I believe there is a lot of reality. As well as they gave a lot of brilliant co-workers which seems to have made it a great place to spin ideas. Also from stories too leader ship was at least open to listen to criticism in "thanks God it's Friday" meetings. While from observing some friends the promotion play was always tough as well. If you wanted to be promoted you always had to use your 20% time "wisely" which for some meant to still work on the main project. For other to strategically work on a side project they could use for the promotion panel. Today's Google seem to be fully focused on numbers, where a lot of the spirit is gone. Back in the days when I visited some friends working for Google we went to Google for breakfast or met at Google for dinner as it was just a good place to hangout. (Which motivated people to stay at Google for more than their regular hours) Nowadays it seem to be more of a workplace.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - pixl97 1y ago
    I mean, if it's a production line that is one thing, but if you are looking for creative new products then don't expect much from them in the future.
    - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
      What's the alternative? Does having a daycare for highly paid adults to dick around all day create innovation? You can't force creativity out of people no matter how much you pay them or how well you treat them. The web is way more mature right now than 20 or even 10 years ago. There's way lass untouched niches waiting to be filled by the new killer product. And Google already owns the search market, the ads market, the smartphone market, the email market, the browser market, the maps market, and soon maybe AI market, etc. What new untapped multi billion market is left for them to conquer? The pond is already fished out at this point. So of course most Googlers are gonna have to be factory workers keeping the factory running instead of dicking around creating new useless things that bring in maybe no significant revenue. The days of Google & Co. spending billions on pipe dreams is over for now. Innovation is at start-ups which Google then buys because it has ad revenue. People go to work at Google because it pays well and less headaches than working at startups, not because they're gonna invent something new.
      - sofixa 1y ago
        > Does having a daycare for highly paid adults to dick around all day create innovation? You can't force creativity out of people no matter how much you pay them or how well you treat them Google is proof that yes, it does create innovation. How many products and tools came out of people dicking around?
        FirmwareBurner 1y ago
        That was many MANY years ago. I'm talking about today. What new product has Google launched recently that it didn't cancel? Google's main money makers are all still products from 15-20 years ago. Given all this it's proof that no, paying people to dick around doesn't generate more creativity once you peaked.
myko 1y ago
I lament the "more wood, fewer arrows" tgif, the weird Android guy (Rubin) having too much power, and the Emerald Sea (Gundotra) project for shifting Google to what it has become today
- kridsdale1 1y ago
  How do you feel about Sundar?
  - myko 1y ago
    I've been on the outside since Sundar became CEO. I felt positive about him initially but have soured in recent years. I thought his background with Chrome was a great asset for setting company direction but lately it feels like the goal is to alienate consumers.

by WWLink 1y ago

johannes1234321 1y ago

> may not have had a basis in reality. I believe there is a lot of reality. As well as they gave a lot of brilliant co-workers which seems to have made it a great place to spin ideas. Also from stories too leader ship was at least open to listen to criticism in "thanks God it's Friday" meetings. While from observing some friends the promotion play was always tough as well. If you wanted to be promoted you always had to use your 20% time "wisely" which for some meant to still work on the main project. For other to strategically work on a side project they could use for the promotion panel. Today's Google seem to be fully focused on numbers, where a lot of the spirit is gone. Back in the days when I visited some friends working for Google we went to Google for breakfast or met at Google for dinner as it was just a good place to hangout. (Which motivated people to stay at Google for more than their regular hours) Nowadays it seem to be more of a workplace.

FirmwareBurner 1y ago
[flagged]
- pixl97 1y ago
  I mean, if it's a production line that is one thing, but if you are looking for creative new products then don't expect much from them in the future.
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    What's the alternative? Does having a daycare for highly paid adults to dick around all day create innovation? You can't force creativity out of people no matter how much you pay them or how well you treat them. The web is way more mature right now than 20 or even 10 years ago. There's way lass untouched niches waiting to be filled by the new killer product. And Google already owns the search market, the ads market, the smartphone market, the email market, the browser market, the maps market, and soon maybe AI market, etc. What new untapped multi billion market is left for them to conquer? The pond is already fished out at this point. So of course most Googlers are gonna have to be factory workers keeping the factory running instead of dicking around creating new useless things that bring in maybe no significant revenue. The days of Google & Co. spending billions on pipe dreams is over for now. Innovation is at start-ups which Google then buys because it has ad revenue. People go to work at Google because it pays well and less headaches than working at startups, not because they're gonna invent something new.
    - sofixa 1y ago
      > Does having a daycare for highly paid adults to dick around all day create innovation? You can't force creativity out of people no matter how much you pay them or how well you treat them Google is proof that yes, it does create innovation. How many products and tools came out of people dicking around?
      - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
        That was many MANY years ago. I'm talking about today. What new product has Google launched recently that it didn't cancel? Google's main money makers are all still products from 15-20 years ago. Given all this it's proof that no, paying people to dick around doesn't generate more creativity once you peaked.

myko 1y ago

I lament the "more wood, fewer arrows" tgif, the weird Android guy (Rubin) having too much power, and the Emerald Sea (Gundotra) project for shifting Google to what it has become today

kridsdale1 1y ago
How do you feel about Sundar?
- myko 1y ago
  I've been on the outside since Sundar became CEO. I felt positive about him initially but have soured in recent years. I thought his background with Chrome was a great asset for setting company direction but lately it feels like the goal is to alienate consumers.