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>"[...] and builds user trust with each successful alert" So the company notorious for killing projects is going to tackle infrastructure grade systems? I don'

>"[...] and builds user trust with each successful alert" So the company notorious for killing projects is going to tackle infrastructure grade systems? I don't trust Google to tackle this problem.

homebrewer 1y ago
I live in a seismically active (and poor) area. Dunk on Google all you want, they're the only organization who provide earthquake alerts in my area. The government has better things to spend money on (like pervasive corruption), but Google usually sends a notification 30-60 seconds before a perceptible earthquake happens.
- ianburrell 1y ago
  Google (and Apple) has been partnering with ShakeAlert from USGS for quake reporting on west coast of US. But that takes network of seismometers and detection system. I could see smartphone seismometers being useful for areas that don't have all that. OTOH, if phones are useful seismometers, it should be possible to make cheap, dedicated ones.
  - homebrewer 1y ago
    The closest one (that I know of) is approximately 1000 km away, and it does provide data about earthquakes, but only after the fact. They already have some information sharing, because I usually look up the info on usgs.gov, but almost certainly not in real time.
- Aachen 1y ago
  Note that they're also one of the only ones who can unilaterally choose to preinstall this on a majority of devices around the world. Of course I agree that it's good that they do it, for free and all, but to put it in perspective it's either each government for themselves or one of the two global superpowers that have devices with accelerometers and constant internet connectivity on every square kilometer of this oblate spheroid
- el-salvador 1y ago
  We’ve had this Google service in El Salvador for a while, and it’s really cool. The first time we received an earthquake alarm we felt like we were living in Japan. I never thought we would have Japanese-style earthquake alerts here. iPhone users were a bit annoyed though, because it only worked on Android phones.
bitpush 1y ago
Are you always this salty, so it is only certain topics that make you do this? Always curious why people comment like this when they have a choice to, you know, not do it
- baxtr 1y ago
  But isn’t that also what makes us special? Like not everyone is the same and stuff?
- transcriptase 1y ago
  I assume you’ve never had the delightful experience of relying on a product Google built or acquired then let decay or killed outright because it doesn’t contribute to ad revenue and the people who cared leveraged it in their promo packet to go elsewhere.
  - thezilch 1y ago
    No business has the obligation to keep running what you find useful. If it was that useful, someone else will make it. If no one is doing it or well, I see no reason to just complain and offer no solution. If there are other solutions and Google is going to hurt or destroy "competition", that's what should be discussed.
    - transcriptase 1y ago
      You’re allowed to just say I’m right. When Google puts enormous amounts of resources into something like Google Home, then acquires Nest, haphazardly merges the two ecosystems while co-opting the Nest brand for unrelated products, then effectively abandons it except for the occasional update that breaks prior functionality? Sure, no obligation. But I’m not being some sort of whiny brat by pointing out that your experience with Google is driven by what will eventually become forced updates meant to drive you away from a product so they can kill it, because the internal culture/incentives promote launching and not maintaining or improving.
    - atim1412 1y ago
kccqzy 1y ago
Google alone tackling this problem for 10 years and then killing it is still better than no one solving this problem and no one getting 10 years of free earthquake alerts.
- kobalsky 1y ago
  big companies doing stuff for free can kill industries. 10 years is enough the ensure that any professional and company trying to make a living from earthquake early detection systems is working on something different. yeah, someone will pop up after they inevitably kill it, but this stuff can end up delaying progress.
  - curiousObject 1y ago
    Case in point: Google providing Android for free killed Windows Phone, Symbian, PalmOS, Blackberry, and several other attempts to create a mobile device OS Which was among the reasons that Google did that, not that the company would say so.
    - mcosta 1y ago
      That and the fact that all those other OS were a complete disaster.
    - toast0 1y ago
      Microsoft ran Windows Phone into the ground. I could rant, but WP7 was interesting, WP7.5 was usable, WP8 and WP8.1 were pretty good, and then WM10 was very late and pretty meh. Had WM10 shown up on time and with quality, we would have a different discussion. Lots of OEMs were making phones for WP8, not many for WM10. Symbian had flirted with Open Source, but IMHO, Nokia's fight with US carriers over shipping a SIP client and the resulting disappearance from the US market of most Nokia phones doomed Symbian... Tech journalism is dominated by US outlets and nobody reported on Symbian phones because they weren't there. I assume you mean Palm's WebOS, cause PalmOS was pretty stylus driven and ux expectations had moved on. WebOS was neat, but Palm didn't have the corporate resources to support it. Blackberry certainly had time and resources to compete. BB10 was supposed to be quite good, but maybe a little late. All of these had what I like to call early mover disadvantage. Being first or at least early to a market makes it hard to adapt when the market changes. Coming in ten years late to smartphones was great for Apple and Google.

>"[...] and builds user trust with each successful alert" So the company notorious for killing projects is going to tackle infrastructure grade systems? I don't trust Google to tackle this problem.

homebrewer 1y ago

I live in a seismically active (and poor) area. Dunk on Google all you want, they're the only organization who provide earthquake alerts in my area. The government has better things to spend money on (like pervasive corruption), but Google usually sends a notification 30-60 seconds before a perceptible earthquake happens.

ianburrell 1y ago
Google (and Apple) has been partnering with ShakeAlert from USGS for quake reporting on west coast of US. But that takes network of seismometers and detection system. I could see smartphone seismometers being useful for areas that don't have all that. OTOH, if phones are useful seismometers, it should be possible to make cheap, dedicated ones.
- homebrewer 1y ago
  The closest one (that I know of) is approximately 1000 km away, and it does provide data about earthquakes, but only after the fact. They already have some information sharing, because I usually look up the info on usgs.gov, but almost certainly not in real time.
Aachen 1y ago
Note that they're also one of the only ones who can unilaterally choose to preinstall this on a majority of devices around the world. Of course I agree that it's good that they do it, for free and all, but to put it in perspective it's either each government for themselves or one of the two global superpowers that have devices with accelerometers and constant internet connectivity on every square kilometer of this oblate spheroid
el-salvador 1y ago
We’ve had this Google service in El Salvador for a while, and it’s really cool. The first time we received an earthquake alarm we felt like we were living in Japan. I never thought we would have Japanese-style earthquake alerts here. iPhone users were a bit annoyed though, because it only worked on Android phones.

bitpush 1y ago

Are you always this salty, so it is only certain topics that make you do this? Always curious why people comment like this when they have a choice to, you know, not do it

baxtr 1y ago
But isn’t that also what makes us special? Like not everyone is the same and stuff?
transcriptase 1y ago
I assume you’ve never had the delightful experience of relying on a product Google built or acquired then let decay or killed outright because it doesn’t contribute to ad revenue and the people who cared leveraged it in their promo packet to go elsewhere.
- thezilch 1y ago
  No business has the obligation to keep running what you find useful. If it was that useful, someone else will make it. If no one is doing it or well, I see no reason to just complain and offer no solution. If there are other solutions and Google is going to hurt or destroy "competition", that's what should be discussed.
  - transcriptase 1y ago
    You’re allowed to just say I’m right. When Google puts enormous amounts of resources into something like Google Home, then acquires Nest, haphazardly merges the two ecosystems while co-opting the Nest brand for unrelated products, then effectively abandons it except for the occasional update that breaks prior functionality? Sure, no obligation. But I’m not being some sort of whiny brat by pointing out that your experience with Google is driven by what will eventually become forced updates meant to drive you away from a product so they can kill it, because the internal culture/incentives promote launching and not maintaining or improving.
  - atim1412 1y ago

kccqzy 1y ago

Google alone tackling this problem for 10 years and then killing it is still better than no one solving this problem and no one getting 10 years of free earthquake alerts.

kobalsky 1y ago
big companies doing stuff for free can kill industries. 10 years is enough the ensure that any professional and company trying to make a living from earthquake early detection systems is working on something different. yeah, someone will pop up after they inevitably kill it, but this stuff can end up delaying progress.
- curiousObject 1y ago
  Case in point: Google providing Android for free killed Windows Phone, Symbian, PalmOS, Blackberry, and several other attempts to create a mobile device OS Which was among the reasons that Google did that, not that the company would say so.
  - mcosta 1y ago
    That and the fact that all those other OS were a complete disaster.
  - toast0 1y ago
    Microsoft ran Windows Phone into the ground. I could rant, but WP7 was interesting, WP7.5 was usable, WP8 and WP8.1 were pretty good, and then WM10 was very late and pretty meh. Had WM10 shown up on time and with quality, we would have a different discussion. Lots of OEMs were making phones for WP8, not many for WM10. Symbian had flirted with Open Source, but IMHO, Nokia's fight with US carriers over shipping a SIP client and the resulting disappearance from the US market of most Nokia phones doomed Symbian... Tech journalism is dominated by US outlets and nobody reported on Symbian phones because they weren't there. I assume you mean Palm's WebOS, cause PalmOS was pretty stylus driven and ux expectations had moved on. WebOS was neat, but Palm didn't have the corporate resources to support it. Blackberry certainly had time and resources to compete. BB10 was supposed to be quite good, but maybe a little late. All of these had what I like to call early mover disadvantage. Being first or at least early to a market makes it hard to adapt when the market changes. Coming in ten years late to smartphones was great for Apple and Google.