Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 4th Apr 2012 22:22 UTC
Interesting, if not inherently flawed, article by Farhad Manjoo. "Honan might be right that Google has violated its own definition of evil, but doesn't it matter that every one of its rivals also routinely violates Google's definition of evil?" I say flawed, because I value promises more than anything. Google has done things recently that break their initial promise. That sucks - there's no way around it. I do love Gruber's take, though: "It's not that Google is evil. It's that they're hypocrites. That's the difference between Google and its competitors." In other words, it's perfectly fine to be an evil scumbag company, as long as you're not claiming you're not. That's a rather... Warped view on morality.
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Member since:2005-07-27
This is quite true.
Somehow people fail to understand that in a capitalist world there are no good or bad companies.
A good company is one that makes the shareholders happy, that is it.
At the end of the day what counts is the quarter report.
A company is only nice for the customers to the extent that happy customers means more money. That is all.
Somehow people fail to understand that in a capitalist world there are no good or bad companies.
A good company is one that makes the shareholders happy, that is it.
At the end of the day what counts is the quarter report.
A company is only nice for the customers to the extent that happy customers means more money. That is all.
That is "a good company for the shareholders", but people has every right to long for companies that are also "good for Society" (or at least not bad for it).
When companies are clearly bad for society there should be a government ruling to create limits and balance.
This might be utopic nowadays, but letting our culture absorb this concept that the companies have the right to do anything they please in the name of (their) profit takes us in the wrong direction.
Obviously companies are not good or bad in the sense that they are not living, willing entities, but they are driven by good or bad people taking good or bad decisions, and those decisions include not only economic and commercial choices, but also moral and ethical ones.
Capitalism is what we as a society make it or allow it to become.
OTOH, reallity is as you describe it and we´re doomed already....
Member since:2005-07-08
Member since:2007-08-22
This is quite true.
Somehow people fail to understand that in a capitalist world there are no good or bad companies.
A good company is one that makes the shareholders happy, that is it. At the end of the day what counts is the quarter report.
Somehow people fail to understand that in a capitalist world there are no good or bad companies.
A good company is one that makes the shareholders happy, that is it. At the end of the day what counts is the quarter report.
Well, that partly depends on how the stock is setup; but yes - your are right when taking the POV from the perspective of the shareholders which all too many CEOs think they are laden to.
Some CEOs can and do refuse that outlook and tell the shareholders that it's not about the quarterly or year to year, it's about the long term, and ultimately what is good for the companies long term health is good for them. Warren Buffet is one such executive; so you can't say it isn't more profitable.
A company is only nice for the customers to the extent that happy customers means more money. That is all.
Happy customers will nearly always mean more money - until you go to giving them more than you take in, in which case they'll be happy at your expense. The trick is to find the balance.
Ultimately, no matter how many share holders you have, or what your stock price is, etc - a company is nothing without its customers. It lives only because of its customers; though it can die by either customers, management. or shareholders (really management).
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.More Features »
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Member since:
2005-07-08
This is quite true.
Somehow people fail to understand that in a capitalist world there are no good or bad companies.
A good company is one that makes the shareholders happy, that is it.
At the end of the day what counts is the quarter report.
A company is only nice for the customers to the extent that happy customers means more money. That is all.