anathaeum

procedurally generated sarcasm

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ana | 24
writes, games, maths, draws


johnnemann
@johnnemann

I just opened my Google drive and was like "why are these files all over the place? Why aren't these folders nested any more?" and after a moment clicking around I realized that Google Drive has instituted an algorithmic view of my stuff. Not "here's your files where you left them" but "here's some files we think you might like!"

Is nothing sacred


Campster
@Campster

I know Twitter is very publicly showing its ass and is ruining its reputation for the one thing it did and now fails to do but like

It really must be noted that Google has been tanking its reputation in the 30 different things it had been perceived to do well. It is no longer a good email client. It is no longer a good search engine. Chrome is now considered toxic and bad next to Firefox. They killed their RSS reader. Docs is loaded with problems. Between Stadia and various projects before it, it is no longer a place to assume they will build a well supported platform you can release software on. YouTube continues to integrate Shorts in the most awkward, ham-fisted way, and that's ignoring the myriad problems it has for creators and viewers alike.

Like, Musk's ass-showing spectacle of a disaster might be more glamorously embarassing, but Google's collective failure on and enshittification of like 80% of their business ventures is undeniably just as terrible.


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in reply to @johnnemann's post:

That doesn't even make sense for the usual bullshit reasons associated with algorithmic sorting! "Engagement" is irrelevant with regard to one's own files! This is pure cult behaviour where folks believe the algorithm can never fail, it can only be failed.

  • "Hey, our users are telling us to go fuck ourselves for ruining another thing."
  • "Maybe we should listen to their feedback and give them what they want?"
  • "You're right, let's incorporate algorithms and AI into everything, then charge more."

Can't hit performance review requirements (cascaded down the management hierarchy) to integrate generative AI into everything if you don't integrate generative AI into everything.

I know you probably already found it, but just in case, the folder view is still there under "My Drive" on the left, and you can change the default landing page in the settings. I agree this is dumb, but it's just as dumb when Windows and MacOS do it. Google isn't breaking new ground with this particular feature.

in reply to @Campster's post:

musk's fall is pure bro self destruction, a trust fund kid torching his own limited edition ferrari for no reason. google's self destruction is like MS's during the ballmer era: corporate dysfunction settling in bone-deep like a kind of permanent cognitive impairment, a rich guy in a logo knit and khakis reaching for his electric toothbrush, accidentally grabbing a power drill instead and soberly, unhesitatingly, using it anyway.

I was gonna say the same thing. Thank god for Fluffies putting my mind at ease. If nothing else I don't want to use Chromium that's (presumably) controlled by google and that leaves only Firefox.

And yet, even when viable alternatives exist, people continue to use the google stuff. That's the scary part to me.

There is, obviously, no good alternative to youtube at the moment.