Re:The latest on Messages, Allo, Duo and Hangouts
by bajsejohannes on Thursday December 06, 2018 @07:06AM
(#18617284)
> More importantly, new Product X, whatever it is, helps to attract new top talent. Top Talent is going to want to fix old things, they want to build new.
Is that really true? I would personally chose to work on Facetime than Google's new messaging system, all else being equal.
Facetime is really solid and I'm sure I could learn a ton from the expertise there; as well as working on something new within that product.
In contrast, Google's messaging systems just seem like a mess. I would feel like it could be cancelled at any time, that we didn't have the best talent (because it's spread across the various systems) and honestly would be slightly embarrassed to talk about it ("yeah, I know, yet another message system from Google").
All these "side projects" create the illusion that Google is not a monopoly. More importantly, new Product X, whatever it is, helps to attract new top talent. Top Talent is going to want to fix old things, they want to build new.
While this might sound a bit extreme, even if it's not actually true (in tandem) both of these "incentives" are real. Google does need to mask its dominance. And it does need to attract top talent (if only to keep soneone else from acquiring it).