
Steve Yegge on Steve Yegge's Amazon Google post - DanielRibeiro
https://plus.google.com/110981030061712822816/posts/bwJ7kAELRnf
======
ethank
My biggest take away from the apology:

"But as it was midnight and I am not what you might call an experienced
Google+ user, by the time I figured out how to actually post something I had
somehow switched accounts."

Uh, well Google: start there. I see about three things that could use some
attention (Google+ adoption, usability and multi-account issues with Google
and Google Apps)

~~~
dirtyaura
Well, Google has always had internal accounts for most of the services that
are tied to your Google Company account. I don't know if G+ works this way,
but I would assume that the problem isn't something that G+ user would
encounter until Google releases Google+ for Google Apps.

~~~
w1ntermute
> Well, Google has always had internal accounts for most of the services that
> are tied to your Google Company account.

Ironically, this is exactly one of the points that Steve made in his original
post.

------
credo
Imo, it speaks well of Google’s culture that they have people like Yegge who
like Google and also have the freedom to strongly criticize it.

Most companies (small or large) don’t appreciate dissent.

~~~
wuster
I just left Google after 3 years (to build my own projects). I echo Steve's
sentiment that overall, Google is a company that really tries hard to do
everything the right way. It's a company full of smart, well-intentioned
people. There are many of these internal discussions, all of them would be
fascinating to outsiders, but it's just (un)fortunate that this one was
accidentally posted.

~~~
alperakgun
For a total outsider it is nice to read what people inside google think.

------
kleiba
Here's a copy of the rant: [http://siliconangle.com/furrier/2011/10/12/google-
engineer-a...](http://siliconangle.com/furrier/2011/10/12/google-engineer-
accidently-shares-his-internal-memo-about-google-platform/)

------
rsobers
I don't think Google will or should care about this post being public. I think
Yegge was generally being really constructive and cares passionately about
seeing Google move forward.

Amazon, on the other hand, might take a small hit in recruiting given the way
Yegge portrayed their culture as a former insider.

------
redwood
The unmentioned take-away here is not simply the focus on Platforms, but the
reminder that 'Circles' are a weak feature to build a social network on. Why?
because user's had already build organic circles across multiple social spaces
(e.g. professional-only on Linkedin, perhaps family or college-safe on
Facebook, close social on gmail, etc). What's the advantage to multiple
platforms for multiple circles? you don't accidentally post your internal
company rant to the whole world. You don't post pictures of red cups and beer
bongs on Linkedin and you don't talk about work on Facebook. This is how users
were operating before G+ launched, and is precisely why users aren't diving
in.

------
ryan-allen
Quits on stage, retracts. Rants about lack of SOA, retracts. Third time lucky!
I do like his writing and speaking though!

~~~
MattLaroche
Quitting on stage was a misunderstanding.

He didn't retract his rant's meaning, he basically changed the privacy
settings back to what he meant them for.

So no retractions at all.

------
ryan-allen
This is on the frontpage of a mainstream Australian news website: "Google
engineer slams Google+ as 'pathetic afterthought'"

[http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-
news/google-e...](http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/google-
engineer-slams-google-as-pathetic-afterthought-20111013-1llr5.html)

~~~
njharman
Reinforces value of mainstream news. [if unclear, mainstream's value is < 0]

~~~
ryan-allen
Ah, I think the significance is that if he didn't retract the essay it would
not have hit the news outlets.

------
jmmcd
Haha. He must've published it on purpose, right? That seems like a Yegge thing
to do. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission and all that.

------
pwim
This oversharing problem highlights the fundamental problem with private
sharing Google+ was supposed to address: users make mistakes.

~~~
jrockway
Yes, but this is a problem that will only affect Google employees, not the
world at large. Steve says he meant to be signed into his internal Google
account, not his external Google account.

~~~
pwim
Steve made _that_ mistake. If I'm using Google+, I could accidentally select
the wrong circle to share to.

~~~
jrockway
Yes, but that's true of anything, right? You could accidentally misread a
traffic signal and drive into the middle of oncoming traffic. But like with
sharing on social news sites, you can usually recover quickly enough that it's
not a big deal. Slam the brakes, delete the post, etc.

People make mistakes and no software can prevent that.

------
abbasmehdi
When I read the original post I thought what a great company! This kind of a
culture will enable them to attack themselves before anyone else can. I'd
rather have people tell me what I'm doing wrong than false, drunk on kool aid
praises.

------
swah
Are you guys developing your products as services/platforms?

------
philjackson
Does anyone know if Amazon have responded in any way yet?

~~~
tybris
Respond to what? The ramblings of an employee who left over 5 years ago? That
hardly seems necessary.

Yegge in 2006: "I was at Amazon for just under seven years, incidentally.
Great place to work. I recommend it."

<https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/blog-rants>

~~~
philjackson
"That hardly seems necessary"

I would say there's enough fallout that damage control should have kicked in.
Just look at the original thread, it's full of negativity.

------
luser001
Hmm, I'd consider adwords and adsense as platformization.

~~~
njharman
I'm not intimately familiar with adwords|sense. But I don't think it meets my
definition of platform is something 3rd parties can build __on __not just
with. Can you create an "plugin/app" that uses custom ad selection algorythm?
that extends or uses the platform in ways it's creators did not imagine? is
there a marketplace somewhere I can upload my "plugin/app" and others use it?
etc.

------
p2w
gotta say, this was a great piece. should be required reading for every kid
studying cs in college, and for most corp tech managers...

------
libria
> _Accessibility to zero means you have no product at all, whereas dialing
> Security to zero can still get you a reasonably successful product such as
> the Playstation Network._

I'm hoping that was a joke. Having the government investigate you for
divulging sensitive customer data disqualifies you from being "usable".

~~~
swah
That's just Steve style...

------
jasonabelli
Wonder if he felt like this guy. LOL You just hit reply all!
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xGw-SWej8>

