Comment by jariel
6 years ago
"Chrome was about freeing the world of a truly terrible web browser "
Chrome is about establishing more control over the web to further the business objectives of Google and Alphabet.
The problem with this belief of Google as some kind of 'benevolent actor' is a function of the new kind of branding they helped introduce, something that an entire generation of particularly young people are being duped by.
'Brand' used to be the image that companies presented - it was a decision, a marketing tactic, usually invented by agencies. Google was one of the first to change that, to effectively 'internalize' the brand so that they (staff, even leaders) really kind of believed their own kool-aid. There's an incredible aura of 'authenticity' to this; when leaders really believe their own schtick, it rings more powerfully. (This is an issue for another thread.)
But Google has proven that in the long run, they're just a regular company. I don't think they are bad actors, and in the big picture, they're better than most. But, they're just a self-interested entity: they will do whatever is in their power and which is also legal, to leverage their incumbency and stymie competition.
> The problem with this belief of Google as some kind of 'benevolent actor'
You put 'benevolent actor' in quotes as if the comment you are replying to contained that. It didn't.
Stress quotes. That is just one of the possible devices to achieve that.
I see a lot of that here, people misunderstanding basic speech/writing conventions. Maybe giving the op the benefit of doubt, assuming s/he knows what s/he is doing, can help avoid some of those.