Google going evil has become the Godwin’s Law of tech commentary: “As an online discussion tech commentary about Google grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler calling it evil approaches 1.” Let’s move beyond the sensationalist “evil” headlines and get clear on what’s actually been going on recently.
The privacy policy consolidation was not as big a deal as everyone made it out to be. The Mocality fiasco was terrible, and Google was rightly mortified. We may all agree that Search Plus Your World smacks of AOL and/or Facebook, and that perhaps Google is having its Microsoft Moment, but please stop publishing “turning evil” headlines. It’s an overused, scare-mongering hook, people. Instead, criticize what you don’t like about what Google’s doing using specific examples, and even better, code. If you’re not a coder, then just take the time to educate readers about the specific disadvantages of what Google is doing and what the alternatives to their services are really like. We’ll all be a lot smarter for it.
Related: The glut of hackneyed zingers about how Android isn’t really “open.”
