What Dave curiously leaves out here is that he & other top execs at these companies were the ones who larded their staffs up with all kinds of insane perks, would brag about them as cool & complain via text/email when reporters made fun of their inane kombucha tiki bars #receipts
In other words, these dudes — so non-reflective that they wouldn’t show up in a mirror — raised their staffs like overindulged children whom they continually stuffed with all manner of sugar & sleep pods and now they incredulously wonder how the kids became so spoiled and lazy.
Make no mistake:
THEY MADE THIS WORLD & LOVED WHAT THEY MADE. Facebook execs would often urge me to walk HQ’s nature roof & touted their “delicious” green smoothies from the juice bar & urged me sit under the perfect verandas. So spare me the can-you-believe-these-employees crap.
That’s just coffee for me by the way, but with OF COURSE artisanal beans handcrafted by elves from some magical roastery one of these tech squires insisted on funding.
A sign at FB HQ I took a photo of in 2013
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I don’t recall this ding-dong stepping up when many of us were talking about the concentration of power in tech, which is a business & innovation issue. Instead when it’s in the financial interests of the very rich, they cynically make it fake political to gin up Tuckie rage.
They could have cared less about who was taxing who — a valid concern of devs — and now as they preside over making Twitter a mosh pit for the malevolent and worse that invites scrutiny from the app stores, they cry victim and pretend stone cold capitalists are libs to deflect.
Their performative hand waving is depressing since these are important issues that have long needed attention by regulators. Instead, they are turning it into a red pilled fever dream to benefit themselves. As I always say about this crew: They’re so poor, all they have is money.
There was a time when you cared about the truth @elonmusk. That is long gone. I’ll add: Playing to the cheap (and dirty) seats is no way to live. You may be my greatest disappointment in 25 years of covering tech. Well, you and having to interview Jeff Bezos on a Segway once.
Wait let me correct: Having to be the one to tell Sergey Brin that Google Glass rendered Victoria Secret supermodels wearing them sexless. Yes you and that.
Last disappointment: Not taking all those jobs I was offered at Internet startups in the 1990s, so I could have had a pile of dough to buy Twitter & make it into the amazing place it could be. Which is what I really thought you would do rather than this petty grievance freak show
All due respect to @bgurley who is really a smart man, but this from a tech friend is correct: “this comment is objectively wrong. if there’s a murder, is it better that the police make a decision after 12 hours to arrest somebody even if they aren’t sure? …
“After all, making any decision is better than making no decision! Elon made a stupid decision; was told what would happen, did it anyway, backed it out after exactly what everybody told him happen did in fact happen. does he stop there? No.” …
“He then immediately said "it will be locked down by November 29" and then was told that wouldn't happen. he already backed that out. he then makes a third decision that is obviously just as stupid to basically arrive back where Twitter was in 2009 but more confusing.” …
Good lord. I worked for McLaughlin in my early 20s and eventually had to testify against him in a sexual harassment trial. He was an unrepentant sexist & truly the cruelest boss I ever had. The show was utterly cooked, scripted to be like pro wrestling. I know cuz I scripted it.
He later settled but I watched his creepy groping with my own eyes. His lawyers tried to turf me. Good luck. He heralded in dumb talk and reductive fake fighting that became mainstream. He was a menace: washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…
I talked on the record in this piece since no one ever believed women then (and now) especially off the record. It was a huge career risk and I was a very young woman -- as it turned out a great decision: washingtonpost.com/archive/lifest…
I spent the last day talking to smart folks who know Elon to try to grok why it feels capricious and what the method is to the seeming madness. Here you are for those who care and for those who don’t, good for you for ignoring chaos monkeys nytimes.com/2022/11/18/tec…
1. Twitter will not collapse imminently. Probably. It’s a resilient system and things are backed up. But it’s less failsafe and more prone to attacks by hackers who have an easier target. Elon is a gambler and he is betting on odds that fewer staffers will handle. Risky obvi.
2. He is also counting on users to put up with inconveniences like you can’t get your archive or user count. Tech users are used to glitches and they might not leave yet over small jams. He’s probably right even if it’s a sucky attitude toward consumers. Does he give a fuck? No.
A few things: 1. Depending on how much critical staff has left & where — it’s possible tho not probable the service could shut down at any time & for a short or long time. Relax as it used to do this a lot with the dreaded fail whale logo (see old & new one). It usually restores.
2. That said, I downloaded my archive recently — and you should as it is a record of you. It is likely that there are big security issues & your info could get hacked. This is also not uncommon, but a pain. If you have a credit card loaded in, be on alert. washingtonpost.com/technology/202…
3. There are alternatives like Mastodon, Post.news, LinkedIn, Insta, TikTok, but they’re all different and is not easy to recreate your social network here elsewhere. In fact, you will not. Accept this. Btw Twitter is not going away either — it may just get suckier.