Ask Download Squad: Google - good or evil?
We received a lot of good comments on last week's question
about what you install first on a new computer, and some clear winners
were Firefox, along with firewall, antivirus and antispyware software.
For this week's question, we're going to the headlines. With the launch
this week of Google Talk
and the company's plans to sell more stock to increase its cash horde,
some members of the media declared open war on Google, branding the
company the next Microsoft. As summed up by The New York Times,
"Nowadays, when venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and technologists
gather in Silicon Valley, they often find themselves grousing about
Google, complaining about everything from a hoarding of top engineers
to its treatment of partners and potential partners. The word arrogant
is frequently used." So, that's our question for this week: is Google getting too big and powerful? Is it a force for good or evil? Or is the whole argument a silly waste of time cooked up by journalists eager to find another corporate scandal to write about? Let us know! Post your answer in the Comments section below. And, if you'd like to have your question included here, send it to us using this form. We'll post one question each week.
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The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
William said 9:32AM on 8-27-2005
i think any company that is trying to give microsoft a run for their $$$ is good, sure they may be buying everything up but so far most everything they've released has been as good if not better than microsoft. this can only be seen as good, because microsoft now has some competition that isn't afraid to go after them with everything they have and it doesn't hurt that they have the money to do it with either
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retro said 9:59AM on 8-27-2005
Not evil. Google was the underdog, and even though they're the top dog now, they keep the underdog attitude. One of the most trustworthy companies out there.
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J.T. Mill said 10:09AM on 8-27-2005
Google isn't evil. People are forgetting what Microsoft is evil for. They don't listen. If everyone in the world minus one person complained to Microsoft about the lack of a feature, they probably wouldn't consider it until that last person complained too. Google isn't like that, they actually listen to most suggestions that people make. Sure, they don't do things like a delete button to gmail, but they still listen to most things. It's not a company's size that makes it evil, it's their appathy to their customers.
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Hkid said 10:32AM on 8-27-2005
People are forgetting all the stuff that Microsoft did in th 90s. Microsoft was dirty and evil in the truest sense of the word. When Google starts breaking Yahoo products and MSN Search functions then we can talk.
Google makes free software, they improve upon existing standards and cause everyone to improve. We finally have a company big enough to release an OS that people would be willing to try out. Google Earth is the best thing ever. Gmail freed us from our 2MB email storage days on MSN. And GTalk will make all ims work with each other.
I love seeing MS squirm. If you cheer against Google are you cheering for MS?
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mini-me said 11:09AM on 8-27-2005
Google is good!
What is wrong with a little expansion, provided that they provide services that are needed
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Holt said 11:17AM on 8-27-2005
Google is a corperation now just like any other in that they want your money. There really isn't too much concern on Google or any company's mind about actually being good or evil, it's just image and marketing. Getting people to trust you so that they want to give you their money.
Even with that said, I don't think Google is evil. They are still playing fair (as far as I can tell) and are always trying to improve their products, making success more from pleasing consumers instead of underhanded business tactics.
They're a pretty smart company, I just hope they keep their relatively clean record and don't abuse their popularity.
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Adam said 11:35AM on 8-27-2005
I think google is NOT evil. It's nice for microsoft to be smacked off it's high horse by free apps (firefox, anything made by google) and whether it'sdoing evil things behind my back, it still maintains an open image. i dont care if my e-mail is being read by a comp, and i sure as heck dont care if they're getting to be a huge, faceless corporation, cuz all that means to me is better, functional, market driven products in the end.
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mrgomel said 11:37AM on 8-27-2005
Not (yet) evil. When they grow and start hiring more Microsoft managers, they will go over to the 'suit side' of the force.
Power attracts the corruptible and the word on the street is that Google will gain more power in the future. They should double secure their hiring process against careerists with no moral spine.
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keith coutinho said 11:39AM on 8-27-2005
EVIL!!!
there is something about them... i like picasa, but gmail is a bit scary. goole talk is crappy, the maps dont have a scale.... allow google.
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Brian said 12:03PM on 8-27-2005
Google corporate motto: "Don't be evil." So far as I've seen, they live by it. I'm not worried.
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tevetorbes said 11:56AM on 8-27-2005
Well, let's not forget about the whole Bill Schmidt v. CNet fiasco. Maybe it's not actually Google that's evil, but Schmidt and his top cronies (as in maybe it's not Microsoft that's evil, but Gates and his top cronies).
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Praful Mathur said 12:04PM on 8-27-2005
How is GMail scary? Every major email provider keeps a record of every email sent through its servers so unless you want to create an email server for yourself and give every person you know an account go ahead. But as long as google doesn't use the emails as black mail or profit by selling personal information to others I am fine with it. Its not like they have people sitting there reading your emails its just a computer that looks for keywords so there's nothing "evil" about that.
P.S. For some reason ppl think I am mad when I make pro-Google comments against someone who's against it. I am not mad just questioning your reasoning.
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Ralph said 12:09PM on 8-27-2005
The simple fact is Google's products are free, easy to use and easy to uninstall. They offer the things that most of us want but not willing to pay for. And they actually are making Microsoft worry in their own field.
Now everybody is giving 2GB of space, releasing new free products to keep pace with Google and these tools actually work better because they know Google will bring it. Microsoft is and will remain the evil until they shift their attention to the consumers and start listening to our concerns.
Microsoft doesnt want to compete, they want to destroy opponents so they remain on top and I am loving the fight that Google is giving them and for now Google is winning. The only people that are benefiting from this are "You and Me".
Hey Google! What about "Google Office 2007" and "Google Freedom OS"???
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Nalin Makar said 1:07PM on 8-27-2005
I was asked this question while talking with Tattoo Brand Consulting yesterday. They are working with Yahoo! and helping them improve their image.
I told them this. Google, for some reason seems clean and honest about everything they do. If they are making money, they are giving it back aslo by supporting open source projects. You can think of Google in terms of a person that has a kewl attitude and somehow it is easy to identify with it.
There already are and soon there are going to be a lot more Google products around and I dont mind that till the time they keep coming up with good and innovative products.
They have come a long way in the last 4-5 years and that is no reason to start bad-mouthing them.
Simply put... Google Rocks !!
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tevetorbes said 1:31PM on 8-27-2005
Interesting article posted over at /.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050825.html
The author posits that Google has reached the apex of their dominance, and that they [Google] are OK with that.
Additionally, the author also implies that Microsoft's biggest threat isn't Google at all, but rather Apple- although the story is pretty far-fetched, it does carry some interesting implications.
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David Moss said 1:33PM on 8-27-2005
I'd say not yet evil too, though they surely have the potential. They do provide have clever people working on clever things, but in a relatively closed environment. I've been a Gmail user since the beginning and agree it has changed the webmail market for the better. Similarly, when Google was a search engine (anyone remember those days?) it's impact on web search was undeniable.
However, the fact is, they are doing little or no specific *nix development. This is where my "potentially evil' argument develops. Their marketing machine highlights a "do no evil' culture, based on "open standards" (as with Talk recently), but their software development focusses exclusively on Windows. There is no Mac or Linux version of Picasa/Hello, Earth, Desktop or Talk, and the signs are not looking good for the future. Equally, to use Talk you require a Gmail address, which remains (outside the US) at least, invitation-only. This seems far from "open" to me.
Lastly, talk of a Google OS (mentioned in the first post) seems silly. At present, whilst I agree they are providing services which compete with Microsoft, all they are doing is either piggy-backing on Windows (Microsoft's product), or by using web technologies (as in Gmail or Maps.) If they were planning an OS, surely the easiest way would be to develop a branded Linux distro, or use other OSS work (a branded Firefox, as was also rumoured recently.)
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Zaid said 2:08PM on 8-27-2005
Wow! so much to learn with the comments. Here are my two cents.
Google now rules and introduces us into the age of Technutopia
Their products are simple, small, clean, fast and efficient. Google Earth is a bit bigger but look at the quality and features you get for free, like most others. How long will they be able to keep so much goodness out there without direct revenues?
Actually now most of the early googlers are rich enough to retire but those guys goals in life do not seem to be Porsches, indoor pools and such. In theory, they only need money to pay for the bandwidth, the services they use, the new hires and the stock holders. Even with tons of cash they seem to work like crazy and love it that way.
The result? I think we are assisting to and enjoying a kind of "technutopia" and I wish it lasts as long a possible, especially with the fantastic Google Earth. It has been many years since I last was blown away by new technology.
Apple, Microsoft and most of the rest seem just too busy making profit. Like us they probably dont fully understand what is happening with Google.
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keith coutinho said 2:14PM on 8-27-2005
http://www.robinsloan.com/epic/
hey look at this, it's pretty cool, some guy's veiw of the future. the situation in 2014
go googlezon! lol
"By the year 2014, what I call newsmasters will be the most sought-after and highly rewarded professional media creators the world has ever seen..."
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Jake Boxer said 1:12PM on 8-28-2005
Companies are not evil (except for a few exceptions in which the heads of the company have malicious intent, such as Enron). The point of a company (unless it's non-profit) is to make money, and hopefully make a good, useful product. Google is doing both. Stop complaining.
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AFD said 10:13PM on 8-27-2005
I thoroughly enjoy Google the search engine and Gmail has proven itself very useful - but when they released their version of Picasa, my PC didn't agree with it too well. If I remember correctly, my Win2k kernel became corrupt immediately after installing and scanning directories using Picasa. I had to completely re-install my OS, and thinking that the problem most certainly was something else - I again installed Picasa. Immediately the same result, and after the 2nd OS re-install w/out Picasa I never experienced the problem again. To this day I haven't been able to bring myself to install any other software released by Google, because of that.
In general, I believe that Google has nothing but the purest intentions of remaining a good, positive company. But in time, the shareholder's interest in profits could possibly steer the company away from its principles - eventually leading Google to be seen as the evil corporate giant that Microsoft is now often regarded as.
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