James GleickJun 10, 2023

An astonishing fact about the present moment in technology:

Google—which began by doing one thing, and did it better than anyone else, and used that one thing to become a giant company, richer and more powerful than almost any other entity on earth—has lost its ability to do that one thing.

#Google https://hachyderm.io/@confluency/110491848831123193

Adrianna Pińska (@[email protected])

Content farms have basically eaten the first two to three pages of a typical Google search. This morning I was trying to find information about the relative safety of different space heater designs, and 95% of the results were long, rambly bullshit posts written by Jim Smith the Extremely Real Engineer Man for AllAboutSpaceHeaters.com and filled with Amazon affiliate links. Wow, AI is going great. I can't wait to see how this amazing technology will help humanity next.

Hachyderm.io
Show threadNicole ParsonsJun 10, 2023

@JamesGleick

Google is at the "watering down the chowder" phase of Cory Doctorow's enshittification business model.
https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/
"I know of a restaurant that served a fantastic clam chowder and was packed with customers every day at lunchtime. Then the business was sold, and the new owner focused on golden eggs—he decided to water down the chowder.

For about a month, with costs down and revenues constant, profits zoomed. But little by little, the customers began to disappear.
1/2

Show threadNicole Parsons

2/2
.... Trust was gone, and business dwindled to almost nothing. The new owner tried desperately to reclaim it, but he had neglected the customers, violated their trust, and lost the asset of customer loyalty. There was no more goose to produce the golden egg."

7 Habits of Effective People
Stephen Covey

Google engaging in reputational self-harm at the behest of their investor's political agenda

Surveillance capitalism
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/07/heres-a-look-at-who.html

https://observer.com/2023/06/google-saudi-arabia-data-center-protest/

https://english.alarabiya.net/News/saudi-arabia/2023/04/14/Saudi-Arabia-s-Crown-Prince-launches-four-new-economic-zones-with-special-benefits

The Saudi Crown Prince hung out this week with Google execs Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai

The Saudi Crown Prince came to Silicon Valley this week and met with a handful of executives, including co-founder Sergey Brin

CNBC
Jun 10, 2023 at 10:39pmWeb
Show threadGreg SpradlinJun 11, 2023
@Npars01 Google “bonesaw”, Sergei.
Show threadNicole ParsonsJun 11, 2023

@spradlig

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-06/google-thiel-stand-out-in-saudi-prince-s-silicon-valley-tour

https://www.businessinsider.com/saudi-arabia-crown-prince-visits-apple-google-2018-4

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/business/media/reality-saudi-prince-media-narrative.html

https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/10/will-mbss-money-ever-become-radioactive/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHw6j_vWAEw5r4GXV-IyV7_T6aGFZTvBlcuO7IBcGZZI3yXCRzK2yqn1N1IOWiRiISjGPqqnRldV77BsIDUk2-x8-TeP5hLSDNDyeO1M9BfYZ37tPesLvRu0a53cOuhXlluCO7R7kL787Uz28YlX_hGasM1evsZ1sSSZPEuNC4qO

Were the Saudis involved in efforts to create a financial crisis?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/10/i-wouldnt-take-that-money-saudi-arabias-dirty-investments-could-be-trouble-for-softbank

Google, Thiel Feature in Saudi Prince's Silicon Valley Tour

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wrapped up a whirlwind tour of technology titans on Friday, part of a three-week U.S. visit focused on economic opportunities to diversify the oil-rich nation.

Bloomberg.com