[LINK] Google (maybe) changes Buzz

[Richard Chirgwin]

It remains my favourite quote from mad Nietzche:

"He even knows how man should be, this bigoted wretch; he paints himself 
on the wall and says 'ecce homo!' ('behold the man!')".

(Other translations I've read were less clear in the first part of the 
quote, so I have used that of R J Hollingdale, 1968).

By which I mean, as with every other time I've applied this particular 
phrase to this business: Brin and Page, like so many leaders and 
technology utopians, consider themselves, their interests, and what they 
believe to be 'cool' to be the template for all humanity; and they are 
always surprised when people think differently to them (as well as 
surprised, disappointed, hurt and angered. Didn't some tech blog have to 
turn off comments because it didn't like the iPad?).

It would appear, re the reaction from Aborigines to Google's 
digitisation plan, that the mindset permeates the organisation.

But to be fair, the way of thinking far predates Brin and Page; it's 
just that they're in a position where they can act first, consider 
scruffy humanity later.

RC


Stilgherrian wrote:
> On 15/02/2010, at 4:58 PM, Ivan Trundle wrote:
>   
>> I hate this process of software 'improvement' by proxy. Why can't they get it right the first time, and not wait for users to complain about such obvious shortcomings?
>>     
>
> I think John Naughton got it right.
>
> "Google blunders sometimes because Brin and Page tend to approach things with the simplistic directness of engineers."
>
> http://memex.naughtons.org/archives/2010/02/14/10120
>
> They see that something can be done, they think it's cool, and it simply surprises them that other people might think differently. That blog post is well worth a read.
>
> A Google person at a much lower level was telling me the other day about their plan to help digitise all of the Aboriginal languages which are under threat from extinction. He was truly amazed that some communities simply didn't want it to happen, because they were THEIR languages and if they died with them, so be it.
>
> It is simply immense hubris. Techno-uptopianism, or something.
>
> Stil
>
>
>