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I don't get why people hate Google so much (maybe they search for really nasty things all day and therefor are afraid)

BUT: (and I stole this of slashdot, but it sums up my feelings nearly 100%)

Google are:
- releasing source code to their operating system for free, under no obligation. The Nook Tablet and Color and Kindle Fire are great examples of how this can work against Google - Android devices that make no payment to Google and do not come with access to Google's Android Marketplace, or Google's proprietary apps.

- virtually the only major silicon valley company left (compared to Apple, Amazon, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon etc) who haven't patent trolled anyone (except in retaliation of course), although they could have, Google still has thousands of patents even though companies like Microsoft have far more, some of them are a lot more important than Apple GUI animation patents. e.g. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/01/googles-mapreduce-p... [arstechnica.com]

- been far better at sticking to privacy promises and openness compared to the likes of Facebook

- have entire divisions of their company and features that make no revenue for them (and are not R&D projects in hope of future earnings) but are retained. e.g. Free offline and IMAP/SMTP/POP access to gmail from day one, google docs for personal use (I can open and edit files with no ads anywhere), AOSP, Google chrome/ chromium, google.org

- principled stand on net neutrality

- taking a principled stand and pulling out of China

Somehow Google are still constantly attacked, way more than companies like Apple and Microsoft these days, they deserve some credit. Sure, they are far from the do no evil motto, but these days, doing a lot less evil than other megacorps is still remarkable.

Though they can clearly benefit each other, as far as (application) "ecosystem" goes, at the very least. Even if appstores are separate, the platforms to target are close enough.


Well, Facebook might have met its match at least in the, also quite problematic, Streetview...
(generally, both being the most powerful tools of - curiously socially acceptable in comparison to, say, peeping over the fence in the old days - cyber-stalkers :p )


IMAP access was added few years after launch (and, really, probably largely to the benefit of upcoming wave of mobile devices). Generally, all those "that make no revenue for them (and are not R&D projects in hope of future earnings)" is what keeps the real product of Google (us, our eyeballs, and wallets when the time comes to buy some advertised rubbish ;p ) more happy, it's very much in the self-interest of Google.


To be fair, that's also simply in their best self-interest.


That's simply not true. Sure, they made some lofty announcements (which, evidently, scored them some positive, if inaccurate, perceptions; some lasting points in increasingly sinophobic places), some posturing ...but, when the reality of pulling out of already one of the biggest (and rapidly growing) markets set in, Google didn't really do anything.


Hey, you seem to essentially grumble a bit yourself at the accuracy of /., in a nearby comment, you should know better


Overall, Google is on upswing rush right now, so of course there will attract attention, of all kinds.
(plus, you know, Skynet lurks in something like their serverfarm )

Edited 2011-11-15 19:33 UTC

Nothing to say here.



You clearly aren't actually in Silicon Valley. Of the 5 "compared to" companies you listed, only 2 of them would be considered Silicon Valley companies (Apple and Oracle). There are dozens of major Silicon Valley companies that haven't sued over patents. That's not a very high bar to leap over here.



Are you forgetting the Buzz debacle? Street View Wifi sniffing? At least Facebook is up front about how much they don't care about privacy.



Lots of companies have this, I'm not exactly sure why this makes them better than any of the others.



Right, the Verizon carve out is very principled.



Except, they didn't pull out of China.



Because most of what you listed is marketing fluff. They believe in net neutrality but they'll live without it on wireless networks to keep Verizon happy. They're big on privacy except when they're stealing data on wifi networks. They're "open", except when for one reason or another it's inconvenient right now. Sometimes it's better to deal with the guys who you know will knife you in the face (Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) instead of the guys that will knife you in the back (Google).

How many times, it's "Don't be evil".

I imagine crow should probably be braised in something strongly-flavored, given the probable toughness of the meat and their diet. Maybe with a citrus-caper butter sauce or a raspberry chutney.

Oh, you meant metaphorical crow! Sorry.