
500 Google employees pen letter saying the firm should move ahead with Dragonfly - echevil
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6443681/Turmoil-Google-500-employees-pen-letter-saying-firm-ahead-Project-Dragonfly.html
======
briandear
Google employees are a loud bunch. They always seem to be making statements,
protesting or petitioning.

That there is so much controversy over there seems like the company has a
values problem: nobody knows what they are.

At Apple, there is likely dissent about various decisions, but overall it
seems like at a far lesser degree because the culture tends to reinforce the
core values of the company. While at Google, it seems like there isn’t any
leadership. Management sure, but no real leadership reinforcing values. It’s
like they’re an old ship where the captain is wanting to go north, but the
rowers are all rowing in whatever direction they want with no sense of
mission, direction or purpose.

It’s a luxury that Google has because they essentially own a money printing
press. A long way from the Don’t be Evil days.

~~~
StudentStuff
Apple keeps its employees and contractors isolated from each other, with
multiple teams working on the same project (and producing similar results)
which middle upper management then picks the "best" of. Operational secrecy is
a high priority, Apple does not operate anything like Google or other tech
companies in this regard.

Dissent got many people I know fired from Apple, even over the most minor
things that wouldn't have been issues at nearly any other company. It was a
place to "think different" so long as those thoughts were expressed in a way
that conformed with what your lead wanted.

~~~
snowwrestler
I know this is presented as a negative and will likely be taken as a negative,
but I think it's actually largely in agreement with parent comment.

Apple is an opinionated company and takes a " _this_ not _that_ " approach to
the world. As someone once said, they're one of the biggest companies in the
world and their entire product line still fits on a dining room table. That's
a lot of saying "no" to things!

Google seems more inclined to believe it can be anything, or do anything. Look
at the breadth of concepts they work on through various subsidiaries like
Google X.

Extend that perspective to their employees. At Apple you'll know whether
you're an Apple person or not, just like their approach to products. Whereas
Googlers are more likely to believe they can be anything. Thus, you get a lot
more public disagreements among Googlers... there's just so much more to
disagree about!

I don't think either approach is necessarily more moral. While Apple does a
lot of good product work related to privacy, there is basically no questioning
of their fundamental decision to do business with anyone, anywhere. Whereas,
while Google's products are worse on privacy by features, there's a lot more
discussion about who they do business with.

------
atrilumen
Where is this letter?

Oh okay, it links to [https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/28/google-dragonfly-
letter](https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/28/google-dragonfly-letter), which says
that a source within Google provided it to them, and they print it "in full",
but sans signatures.

~~~
fjsolwmv
The letter says Google should explore how to enter China, not to enter China
on the terms already known. The opposition letter is opposed to the terms
already known. The difference is in whether a person trusts management to use
that exploration responsibly. Judgments differ, based on recent evidence.

------
fjsolwmv
Daily Mail is sensationalist tabloid.

Mods please change link to [https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/28/google-
dragonfly-letter/](https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/28/google-dragonfly-letter/)

------
kgwxd
A bunch of employees working for one of the biggest publishers/distributers of
spyware are able to rationalize themselves into beliving Dragonfly is a good
thing. I'm not suprised.

~~~
slow_donkey
As with most issues, this isn't black or white. There are many legitimate
reasons why an insignificant number of employees do support Dragonfly and it's
not rationalization from their perspective.

