Resistance is futile…
Looks like we haven’t seen the last of the negative press cycle that began with Google’s blacklisting of News.com (see “Google a Googler, pay the price“). Writing in the New York Times today, Gary Rivlin notes a backlash building against the search juggernaut. Google is going corporate, complain some technologists. It’s arrogant, say others. Worse, it’s hoarding talent. “Google is doing more damage to innovation in the Valley right now than Microsoft ever did,” LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman told the Times. “It’s largely that they’re hiring up so many talented people, and the fact they’re working on so many different things. It’s harder for start-ups to do interesting stuff right now.” And what of Google’s “do no evil” mission statement? Well, no one believes that now do they? “In the day, you’d hear that Microsoft was the evil empire, especially in Silicon Valley,” said Brian Lent, the president of Medio Systems, a start-up in Seattle working on mobile-phone-based search. “Google is the new evil empire, because they’re in such a powerful position in terms of control. They have potential monopolistic control over access to information. I like and respect the Google guys, but let’s just say that their ultimate aim seems to me to be, ‘One Google under Google, for which it stands.’ “
I had to laugh reading the line ” It’s harder for start-ups to do interesting stuff right now.” How ludicrous! Besides overstating how much talent is being sucked up by Google, this statement seems to forget about the rest of the world, and the emormous talent pool enabled by the Internet. What about the trend of VC’s to push offshoring? Isn’t there an enourmous capacity there for “interesting stuff”?
My husband recently got an email from a Google recruiter (it was legit, we were able to backtrack it to the source), that said, “Hi, are you interested in a job?” No mention of a possible fit or a job description of any type, just that arrogant email. This article doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Hasn’t anyone else noticed that perhaps Google should update their philosophy (http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tenthings.html ) that “Google does search. Google does not do horoscopes, financial advice or chat . . .”?
Do you ever worry that Google, the company, is actually run by a sentient evil-super computer bent on destroying humanity?
Ah - for the old days. You used to wonder how they did it, and praise them for doing it. Today, you curse and stammer, call them evil, and are completely blinded by success.
Money corrupts, and when you have that much money……..
Yes, it is the new evil empire, and the founders will construct the compromise as all of Silicon Valley, Seattle etc eventually does.
If they [the founders] cared that much about their ‘do no evil’ premise they would take a couple of hundred million and ride into the sunset and hence forwards commit no evil.
Hasn’t anyone realized that Google is one huge, glorious, primal, advertising sales engine. What ever anyone says that is where the money comes from, so that is what it is; so please every one, get those rose tinted specs off.
It sounds like a lot of sour grapes to me. Notice how all the people who are complaining either own or are planning to own a software company. You aren’t hearing any complaints from the trenches.
A lot of engineers got burned during the dot-com bubble; promises were made and broken, but in the end it was the workers left with only worthless stock for their efforts. I don’t blame them one iota for demanding concrete compensation instead of volatile equity. Programmers may be naive, but they’re not stupid.
Google = the new evil empire? Fine by me, but lets be real about it. Google is small compared to Microsoft.
People and companies who acheive a great level of wealth and power do tend to come to see whatever they desire as the ‘good’. And it’s even easier when you can associate in your own mind ‘good’ with that which benefits the Corporation. It becomes very easy to justify anything as “for the good of the company.” One of the less-endearing traits of the ‘true believer’ personality type - anything can be justified in the name of the ‘good’ of the organization/belief/ideology I have given my allegiance to.
All hogwash
It’s just the normal build-em up then tear-em down cycle the press always goes through. Once the press starts other utopian fantasizers pile on. Can’t have too much success now can we.
Google isn’t alone, they’re on Apple too.
Press is a bunch of jelous loosers!
Sounds like something my mother used to say to me… “Sour Grapes.”