
Stevey's Google Platforms Rant (2011) - dudurocha
https://gist.github.com/chitchcock/1281611
======
gibba999
Well, I agree with everything except that Google's not arrogant. Google is
arrogant, and that's precisely why they can never be a successful platform
company. When I've used Google platforms, things changed under me, for my
apparent benefit. If Google changes something in my personal email, that's
sometimes annoying. If they crack something I run my business on, it's a whole
different ballgame. This is exactly why you see the constant disasters of
Youtubers or Android developers being falsely flagged for violations, and
having their livelihoods removed by automated algorithms with no means of
appeal.

When Google tries to build platforms, others can't use them BECAUSE of
Google's arrogance.

Quote is below.

"You know how people are always saying Google is arrogant? I'm a Googler, so I
get as irritated as you do when people say that. We're not arrogant, by and
large. We're, like, 99% Arrogance-Free. I did start this post -- if you'll
reach back into distant memory -- by describing Google as 'doing everything
right'. We do mean well, and for the most part when people say we're arrogant
it's because we didn't hire them, or they're unhappy with our policies, or
something along those lines. They're inferring arrogance because it makes them
feel better.

But when we take the stance that we know how to design the perfect product for
everyone, and believe you me, I hear that a lot, then we're being fools. You
can attribute it to arrogance, or naivete, or whatever -- it doesn't matter in
the end, because it's foolishness. There IS no perfect product for everyone.

And so we wind up with a browser that doesn't let you set the default font
size. Talk about an affront to Accessibility. I mean, as I get older I'm
actually going blind. For real. I've been nearsighted all my life, and once
you hit 40 years old you stop being able to see things up close. So font
selection becomes this life-or-death thing: it can lock you out of the product
completely. But the Chrome team is flat-out arrogant here: they want to build
a zero-configuration product, and they're quite brazen about it, and Fuck You
if you're blind or deaf or whatever. Hit Ctrl-+ on every single page visit for
the rest of your life.

It's not just them. It's everyone. The problem is that we're a Product Company
through and through. We built a successful product with broad appeal -- our
search, that is -- and that wild success has biased us."

And you know, it might not even be bad. Google does very well in B2C /
nonplatform / ad-supported. It's not clear they want to go this way. But
making a massive investment in platforms from a culture of such arrogance is
misaligned.

