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Google Readying To Pull Out of China
Sagelinka writes "Both Google and the Chinese government appear to be leaking word that the search firm may soon shutter its operations there as negotiations between the two break down. Google first threatened to halt its operations in China after disclosing in January that an attack on its network from inside China was aimed at exposing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. At the time, Google also said it was reconsidering its willingness to censor search results of users in China as required by the government. 'I think Google thought China would be flexible,' said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. Google has since been negotiating with the Chinese government to find a way to continue operating in the country. Google did not respond today to requests for comment on the state of the negotiations with China."
Good. Google should never have made that devil's bargain in the first place.
After all, Microsoft never signed a 'do no evil' clause.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Jesus Breakdancing Christ, it's bad enough when Legacy Media gives time to Rob "All your code base are belong to SCO" Enderle, but what possible purpose is there to mention him on Slashdot, other than to troll us?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
and I'm sure Microsoft and Yahoo will be more than willing to fill in any gaps...
Frankly, I'm suprised Chinese officials didn't have any Google employees executed over this.
Who cares about China. Seriously. What happens there with Google affects most of us absolutely not at all.
Now, what is happening with censorship in Australia? What direction is the censorship, privacy, and IP situation in the UK going? How much more religious absolutism can the U.S. take before we head down that road too?
These are topics much closer to home with a much greater impact on us.
What a bunch of Google execs will do with a handful of employees in China... not so much.
If you are going to get out, then get out.
Otherwise, stfu.
I think this is only posturing on Google's part. While China isn't a huge profit machine right now for them, access to 1.3B Internet users will be a big deal down the road.
If they step aside, they will only be opening the door for the growth of Bing. Since search is probably 99% of their income, giving way to a competitor is not something they want to be doing.
I highly doubt Google folds up shop in China.
Has a major player like Google ever completely abandoned a country before?
It should be interesting to see what kind of effect this has on Google, I doubt there will be a major change in China over this.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
"I think Google thought China would be flexible," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group.
My opinion is that the CEO, Eric Schmidt, differs from the young idealism of Larry Page and Sergey Brin. I do not mean that either side of this leadership is right or wrong but instead simply that they have different motivations. Brin's past has come up before as a source for this (seemingly) new found anti-censorship campaign.
... and I think everyone involved knows it. Until you tell me that Google.cn is dead and I go to the site and confirm it, I will not believe for a second this is possible.
... and that's it. Pesky ideals and ethics have no place in corporate America. Step aside. It's the safest path to churn out tons of cash. They're walking away from too much money and market to pull out of China. It would be bad for stocks and any investors would flip out ... probably even sue.
Google's leadership is conflicted. Brin & Page see the ethics of the situation most important because their motivation seems to be less devoted to money. It certainly seemed to be an exercise in indexing when they started "Google." Schmidt, however, owes his allegience to the shareholders. Or at least feels the pull and responsibility of profit more so than any sort of ethical dilemma. And that's why he was put in that position: to keep investors investing. And, honestly, this last point is why I think this 'removal' is nothing but a rumor or a bluff. Because money is one of the most important things to Google. I don't think the young idealism will stand up to stock prices
Brin and Page's cashing out is really just symbolic of what's already happened at Google. Their motivations are like any other company's. Some of it is about the customer and some of it is about profit
My work here is dung.
Less regretful than pulling out of Chyna.
This guy is a known paid MSFT shill.
An opinion from Rob and $2.50 would get you a small latte at Starbucks.
Rob is a complete tool.
Google Readying To Pull Out of China
- hopefully it will work out and China will not get pregnant. Imagine the litter? Little Choogle or maybe little Gooina.
They should have really used better contraception though, you never know what kind of a virus one may get going barebone like that!
You can't handle the truth.
> 'I think Google thought China would be flexible,' said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group.
And I think you're an idiot Robert. If there is one word NO ONE in the West would use to describe the Chinese government, it is 'flexible'.
"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
Abstinence is the only 100% method to prevent pregnancy. The pull out technique doesn't work. I hope China was on the Pill.
that number is really good when used two ways.
1) To sell people on the idea of possible market places
2) When trying to dilute negative actions by the government on a per capita basis, like how they claim to be very environmentally friendly on a per capita basis.
I do find it humorous all the people mentioning that Bing(MS)/Yahoo will go as they have no morals, I wonder how many read about the story in angst while using products wholly or partially made in China.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
While China isn't a huge profit machine right now for them, access to 1.3B Internet users will be a big deal down the road.
Android will probably keep Google in the Chinese market and generate targeted advertising revenue in some manner.
Maybe former Google.cn employees will find themselves pressured into giving away Google's trade secrets to the Chinese government.
Hail Eris, full of mischief...
E pluribus sanguinem
Yeah Google may pull out of China, but there's no way in hell they'll just turn away over a BILLION customers (or advertisers' customers).
They'll just open a subsidiary in China and operate within the law.
There: do no evil under your own brand name.
Will Google stop buying stuff from China.
The Nexus 1 is made by HTC probably in China.
The iPhone and most of Apples products are made in China so no Google isn't alone.
We as a nation need to stop sending our money to China. How about it Google. Take that big monster pile of cash and build some factories in the US.
Start making phones and motherboards in the US again. Would you pay $10 more for a Google Motherboard built in Iowa or Idaho over an Asus built in China if it was the same quality?
Think of it Google you could pay workers in the US that would then spend that money in the US and buy stuff made in the US "hopefully"
How about not just trying to not be evil but trying to be good?
On a more cynical note. Google isn't making a lot of money in China, odds are the Chinese search engine is benefiting from stolen Google tech will get government support, and they could leverage that tech to start going head to head with Google in world markets.
So they have nothing really to loose by bailing out of China.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
What money? People keep talking about China as if it is some huge source of profit for google. It is not. Google has a few side startups but its main business, advertising is NOT present in China. There are some chinese advetisers but they advertise OUTSIDE China.
The amount of revenue is around 300 million dollar. A pathetic amount and that is revenue, not profit.
The MBA's have long since declared China as some kind of holy grail, were the streets are made of gold and profits just happen. But it just ain't turning out that way.
For europeans, the US of A was much the same. Oh if we can only launch our product over there, we will have it made. Forget, if you are big in Holland then a flea can squash you in the US. You are nothing. Do 10 miljoen euro's and you will be a tiny blip as a Humvee drives over you. Conquer the german market, go south to france. Not instantly across the ocean, with insane transportation costs, gap in working hours, cultural differences.
Google did have long term plans for China, but they might be wondering that with the little result so far, it is actually worth the hassle.
And I think China might be bluffing as well. If Google moves out, they might not loose all that much, but others could start to examine their own future in China.
In itself, it is not unusual for a company to rethink its activities in a region.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
It's also good news for Microhoo. Google, as a publicly traded company, only has the obligation to make a profit for shareholders regardless of their "Do no evil" hooey which, let's face it, once you're publicly traded becomes more of a guideline than a rule. Really, Google wants to increase their market share just like anyone else.
I seriously doubt that they will pull out of China and are just sabre rattling although sabre rattling with the Chinese government is a losing proposition. Microhoo and Baidu should be thanking Google if they indeed pull out but I highly doubt they will. They could always change their motto to "we do less evil than everyone else", then they could stay. It's a more realistic motto anyway.
Google Readying To Pull Out of China
Get ready for the money shot!
Carbon based humanoid in training.
About time too... *nods to Spielberg*
http://nathanlindsell.blogspot.com/
... or for that matter any of the states with skyrocketing pregnancy rates....
"Come on, China! You used to be cool!" Expecting an oppressive regime to be flexible is usually a precept to disappointment.
"I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist! There's a difference." - Dr. Cockroach
Lesson for U.S. co's: Don't even think about compete against China Inc.
Could a lawsuit have merit when Google's motto is do no evil?
Google's motto may be "do no evil" but Google also gets to decide what constitutes "evil". Its really just a marketing / public relations tag line. One should not expect the ethics and sensibilities of company founders to endure in a corporation. Anyone think HP is run as Mr. Hewlett and Mr. Packard envisioned?
But that's an image I cheerfully look forward to pondering on for the rest of my day.
Let me be the first to welcome our flatulent, heavily armored, ozone destroying elephant overlords!
Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
Chinese Gov: you have to censor, it is the law.
Google: ok we follow the law, you dont interfere with our operation
Chinese Gov: ok.
Google: Somebody hacked us
Chinese police: we dont know what you are talking about and we dont investigate
Google: that is not nice, we know its something semi-official
Chinese Gov: maybe, we dont know nothing
No, seriously. If you cant rely that the police will investigate some crime which endangers your operation, you leave a country. Even if the guy who hacked hacked for a private purpose *profit* but is utouchable because he may be linked to the gov or the police, you leave.
The lie underneath all of this is that China is claiming that Google will be denying website access to all Chinese in the People's Republic of China.
Last I checked, Google was available to anyone. If China doesn't let its people use Google, that's their decision.
but whatever their reasons are for leaving (either humanitarian or because they got hacked)
One would hope these reasons had something to do with it, but I'm inclined to think the limited market share verse cost has something to do with it as well. Google China is a huge money pit for Google, and they can always return at a later date.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
If you work in manufacturing, do your country a favor and leave your union. If only everyone would do that, we could restart US manufacturing again.
IT is not unionized, and I hope it will never be.
Google should know that the pull-out method doesn't always work and can yield unwanted progeny.
because China is already over populated. I still prefer condoms though.
Schmidt, however, owes his allegience to the shareholders. Or at least feels the pull and responsibility of profit more so than any sort of ethical dilemma.
It's not about whether he understands the ethical dilemma or not. As the CEO of a public company, he is obliged, not just out of a sense of responsibility, but he is legally obliged to go after profits. There are plenty of historic court cases that make it quite clear to CEOs that if shareholders bring a lawsuit for failure to act first and foremost to generate profits, the CEO is the one who will lose. There are ways Schmidt can justify exiting China to shareholders, but if some activist shareholder gets in a lather and goes after Schmidt for putting ideals above profits, he'll have to defend himself.
This is part of the reason why "do no evil" is such an absurd claim for a public company to make. It's a great idea, but when push comes to shove, "do no evil" loses to "make money".
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
there isn't a day without a yro story
I call bullsh*t. Union membership has been going down for years.
Starting a company does not automatically create a union - the people working there must vote one in. As the labor relations folks here have said - a company gets the union it deserves. Treat the workers decently and they will NOT want to form a union as there will be no need.
If it was all unions, why have so many jobs left the so called "right to work" states where one doesn't have those pesky union issues?
Manufacturing left the US chasing cheap/slave labor as well as lax or no labor safety laws. People move this along buying cheap/disposable rather that looking for quality.
I am sure it is possible to build decent quality items in China - but that is NOT the reason anybody makes things there.
I suspect that the Chinese government would not be fooled, but it would be interesting to see how they justified shutting down Google if they did what Baidu does.
(That is, there exists a server farm that generates a huge and rapidly changing mass of URLs linking to illegal content, which Baidu knows how to index and thus serve up mp3s - they do respond to takedown requests, but there's always more randomly generated URLs for the same content.)
Replace mp3 with censored web content, and laugh. Then get shut down even harder because no government enjoys being mocked.
Where did the mean that idealism means poverty come from?
This isn't a conflict between profit and idealism. It's a conflict between near term and long term profits.
In the near term, if Google compromises it'll profit now. But if Google compromises, they'll ultimately lose profit.
If you have a reputation for not compromising, governments won't even try. Once you have one exception for one government, it's impossible to justify not having other exceptions for all governments. And if you're compromising all over the place, compromising to quasi-government bodies like the RIAA is inevitable.
Google holds *a lot* of personal data, so if that personal data is essentially public, people will not trust Google with their personal data. Google's loss of trust means loss of customers, and ultimately a loss of profit.
"Google Readying To Pull Out of China"
Sounds a bit like coitus interruptus, doesn't it? Or, am I just a dirty old man, and no one else made the connection?
And, this makes the nation feminine, and the corporation masculine, right? What DO you get when you mate an American corporation with a Chinse government?
Oh - never mind. I've got it. http://iwka.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/abortion_22_weeks01.jpg
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
You read my mind. "Do no evil" is a good mantra for Google, but it also means they will lose business in China, and somebody else will gain a virtually monopoly as the "default" search engine - namely Microsoft. So come 2020 we'll have a divided world where Google is the #1 search engine in America/Europe and MS Bing will be #1 in China and its protectorates.
The whole 'do no evil' mantra is a brilliant bit of PR. Sure, they might lose out on some business in China, but if Google is leaving China because they wish to 'do no evil', isn't the implication that anyone replacing them 'doing evil'?
Bing is no Google. They only have market share because they have MS's bankroll backing them. It is yet another MS 'me too' attempt at playing catch up with a market that that blazed past them.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
Google maybe thought Apple would be flexible, too.
It seems that Google can't win. Either they make a deal with the devil as SputnikPanic puts it, or they behave ethically and attract savage criticism from armchair quarterbacks everywhere.
Google has a corporate culture of idealism, no doubt fed by the youthfulness of its top executives and much of its staff. Beyond that, they have traditionally been a good corporate citizen, giving a lot of their work back to the community by open sourcing it.
They created the Android phone operating system to be an open alternative to the various proprietary systems. Anyone can take it and run with it. A whole menagerie of excellent smart phones has emerged with Google technology at their core.
Almost all of Google's apps--search, email, scholar, news, maps, voice, and on and on--are free to use, usually in exchange for mild ad text and aggregated use data.
Google gets it. They do things right. They reward innovation, they encourage creativity. They are the epitome of a great American company.
Therefore, to top off their greatness by refusing to deal with a censoring, dissident-hacking corrupt communist-only-in-name dictatorship is both admirable and gutsy and uniquely American. If only all American companies operated on principles rather than pure greed, think what a better society we would have, and a better world.
I feel duty-bound to support Google in whatever ways I can. Right now it's my Nexus One phone, my gmail, and when I have some spare cash I'll buy a few shares of stock. Go, Google! Show those arrogant turds that at least a few Americans still believe in freedom over profit.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
Pull Out?!? That doesn't sound very manly to me!
Except products have a way of getting duplicated in China. Knock-off hardware will appear very quickly, and at a much cheaper price. Even the software will be the same or very close. Even good products have a hard time competing in China.
Since Android is open source isn't duplication and derivation expected and perfectly fine?
Is this a ploy by Google to look like a hero and less evil to the World... I don't buy it!
They are doing this because they have nothing to lose, since the Chinese are probably aren't using Google Services... They have their shit over there!
Maybe better or worse than our shit, but they have tons of Chinese companies providing services to Chinese consumers...
To the Commie Chinese, Google is just another American company to try to hack and get some Cred with the Chinese government for a job...
Anything short of Google exiting China completely would just emphasize China's stance that they can censor anyone, any time -- and even the USA will bow to their demands, when push comes to shove.
It's irrelevant if "Bing takes their place", really. This isn't about Bing or Microsoft right now. It's about Google and how THEY will react to being told by a nation how to run a search engine.
If and when Microsoft opportunistically steps in and offers to do what Google refused to do, THEN it will be about Microsoft. We can cross that bridge when we come to it.
Uh .. Baidu has China search already with 60+%. Google isn't the dominant player there.
I see Baidu crawlers hitting my site daily. If we really want to give google more leverage, every web site admin could block Baidu crawlers. I won't, but the google lovers out there are free to do so. I do block some of the microsoft crawlers since they were poorly behaved, once.
I find that Bing searches aren't geared towards the things I search, but more for noobs and non-techie topics.
Pulling out has always worked for me..
They're diversifying their portfolio, which is a normal part of being billionaires. Look up Bill Gates for instance - the guy has been selling shares of Microsoft for decades now, on a schedule.
And yes, they do care about profit, but I challenge you to find a single other company who would have the balls to leave $500M on the table and walk away with ethics being the sole major driving force behind the decision. For that, Google has my deep respect, and I hope others would appreciate this move too.
Do all of the analysts employed at the "Enderle Group" go by the name of Rob Enderle? Does the "group" refuse to employ anybody who isn't called Rob Enderle? Are employees forced to change their name?
Or, perchance, is this "group" composed of a lone self-aggrandizing dipshit?
In theory, this is why China should care about Google:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/china-scientists-google/
Since no major American company is going to pull out of China right now if they're being responsible to their "shareholders", I see two possibilities:
1. Google is doing some hard bargaining, and we're seeing part of it.
2. The NSA is pulling Google's strings here as part of a security initiative.
If they stay in China then it's #1, if they actually pull out then it's #2.
The problem with being a totalitarian regime is that you can never, ever, let-up on that boot you have grinding-down upon the necks of the people, even if you want to.
Because the moment you do let-up, the people will stand up, and the next thing you know, you're hanging from a lamp post by a meat hook.
Regards;
What people don't seem to understand is that Google just doesn't want to censor. This doesn't mean that it doesn't want to sell cellphones in China or sell software if the government starts using Google Apps. It just means that Google doesn't want to censor. He can continue selling ads, He can continue selling phones, He can continue doing whatever it pleases, except censorship. And search isn't Google primary income, it's ads.
If a Chinese company makes a Nexus One knock-off with Android software, modified to strip out Google's name, advertising, and applications ... there's nothing left to keep Google in the Chinese market.
On the other hand, if they make the hardware and keep the software intact, it's a good thing for Google. But which do you think the government will encourage, if Google sticks to its guns?
I believe there is a third option. If Google is uncooperative a gov't may mandate the use of their revised version of Android. Branding may remain intact but search and advertising may be modified to comply with local laws and regulations.
Hoodies that say "This is not the hoodie you are looking for" is ripe for geek fashion. Of course, only those resistant to Jedi mind powers would be able to find it.
"I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist! There's a difference." - Dr. Cockroach
Google pulls out of China - China not pregnant.
One of the reasons no one has mentioned yet is that Google's core algorithms and trade secrets could be stolen. Google just can't afford to lose their competitive advantage to industrial espionage. Having engineers in China is a big risk, as they are exposed to coercion by the government. Maybe their core search wizards are all located in Mountain View, CA, but having Chinese guys who tweak the algorithm for the Chinese market probably means that at least a few of them know the core technologies pretty well. Google gives away a lot of technology, but there's no chance that you're going to see them publishing their core algorithms. Having datacenters and engineering in China might be too much of a security risk as well as a moral risk.
"Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group"
No, Rob Enderle is the Enderle Group.
Based on Rob's reporting history with companies like the SCO Group, Novell, IBM and Microsoft, I've long ago concluded he inhabits his own little fictional world.
This report is quoting quite heavily from Rob the Delusional. If he says Google is going, they're probably staying.
Sigh...if it has Chinese looking characters it must be from CHINA right!?
Let me introduce you to a place called Taiwan:
HTC Corporation, formerly High Tech Computer Corporation, is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of smartphones.
Foxconn is the trade name of the Taiwan based firm Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Ltd.). Foxconn is the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components worldwide, and mainly manufactures on contract to other companies. Among other things, Foxconn produces the Mac mini, the iPod and the iPhone for Apple Inc.; Intel-branded motherboards for Intel Corp.; various orders for American computer manufacturers Dell and Hewlett-Packard; motherboards for UK computer manufacturer Zoostorm; the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony; the Wii for Nintendo; the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, the Amazon Kindle, and Cisco equipment.
The company opened its first manufacturing plant in China in 1988, a factory in Shenzhen that is now the company's largest, with more than 270,000 employees.[3] Beginning in 1994, Foxconn purchased development centres in the United States and Japan. In 1997 and 1998, Foxconn established additional manufacturing plants in the UK and the US. As of 2007, the company and its subsidiaries owned plants in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Brazil, India and Vietnam.
ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS), a multinational corporation centered in Taiwan, produces computer products: motherboards, laptops, servers, mobile phones and others.
Sources: Wikipedia: HTC Corporation, Wikipedia: Foxconn, Wikipedia: Asus.
The bigger questions are, is Taiwan really part of China, and what percentage of iphone or whatever really is from China. For the first question the answer is maybe.
Ask a native Taiwanese and they will say Taiwan is definitely not China. Ask a native Chinese and they will say Taiwan is part of China. Here's why: "Upon losing the Chinese civil war in 1949, the ROC government retreated to Taipei, and kept control over a few islands along the coast of mainland China and in the South China Sea. The People's Republic of China (PRC) was established in mainland China on October 1, 1949, claiming to be the successor to the ROC."
For the second question, Foxconn does have plants in China. But it also owns plants in other parts of the world like Mexico. But even then you would have to go down to each component and trace it's place of manufacture because suppliers have their own manufacturing plants. But then again, Foxconn doesn't make HTC phones so I don't know how you get to blame Google for something Apple is contracting out.
I hope it is now all cloudy for you but I at least hope you won't say things are "probably" made in China.
Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
I think this is about four things:
- Sergei Brin being old enough to have lived in the Soviet Union. I think he just really doesn't like communist dictatorships.
- With this move they generate a lot of attention. It will make China look bad, which is a thing China cares about, see for example why they got the Olympics there. I think this gives the more liberal voices in the Chineese goverment a bit more air even if it might take a decade before we see any effects.
- If Microsoft or another competitor would move into China, they would get a lot of bad PR. Google has taken the initiative in an interesting PR war here, we'll see what the responses are.
- Google wants to be seen as an ethical company, just because they know so much about so many people. Part of this move is about showing that you're willing to protect your users' data. This will make people trust Google.
RogerWilco the Adventurous Janitor
1.3 billion brace for the money shot.
I wish they'd just get on with it. I'm sick of hearing about all this 'will they, won't they?' crap. It's like watching an episode of Moonlighting. Still, I suppose we are living in the times of current affairs as 'entertainment'...
I don't think Chinese leadership is inflexible by western standards. Rather, I think they're completely pragmatic and utilitarian. If Google were to make it worth their while, they'd probably be willing to negotiate, however, I don't think Google's willing to go as far as that takes. "Flexible" is a relative term.
Are you defending pragmatic utilitarianism as a basis for government law? What do you say about the moral implications of not respecting Freedom Of Speech?
Congratulations Google even for considering this!
It's about time that someone says no to that oppressing government.
Giving the Olympics to them was already an outrageous blasphemy of every single message the Olympics stands for....
Good.
Get out of there already!
Google's announcements remind me of a store in a local mall with "Going Out of business sale, up to 70% discount" sign for several years.
Sure, those conditions and that money is probably a BIG STEP UP over how many were living
That is pure conjecture. Chinese factory work is institutionalized exploitation of a vast underclass. Most of these people would have been better off as farmers building their own local economies.
If you don't have time to watch this excellent documentary on contemporary china, then just watch section 5: "Two Chinas".
Like all pain, suffering is a signal that something isn't right
From his wiki page:
Education:
- Orange Coast College -- Associate's Degree in Merchandising
- CSU Long Beach -- BS in 'Man Power'
- PACE U -- certificate in 'Market Analysis'
This guy has always seemed to me to be the very essence of F_ _ _ TARD.
If I want to listen to the mindless ravings of tards, I'll turn on fox-news.
Rob Enderle's excellent new book: Everything I needed to know about Computer Science I learned in Marketing School
I'm 100% behind Google on this. Google doesn't need China-s business to survive ... and I feel much better knowing that Google is not just like every other multinational on the planet. Google stands for some values and that's refreshing. I feel more inclined to think that they will do no evil if they do not compromise their values because the Communist Party wants it. Go Google Go!
Microsoft can't possibly withdraw from China -- it has a huge investment there that has nothing to do with the search engine market. Microsoft Research Asia is headquartered in Beijing; and a number of product teams have development teams in Shanghai (disclosure: including mine). They just opened a 4000-FTE office complex in one of Shanghai's technical districts. So I doubt Microsoft is going to close down Bing China out of principle.
"The urge to fly from modern systems, instead of moving through them to even greater, fairer things is, I think, an indi
On the way forward, there's this 'me' character, half a lifetime later,
alive and fictionalizing a Google-like Chinese company, in what looks like an
over populated capitalistic world somewhere around 72010 years ago.
Herein lies our own possible history, from which only about 2000 of our
ancestors survived.
Today's mythology-geology shows a different sort of continental
catastrophic splitting condition, being primed in Western China, on the
edge of a recently discovered underground ocean of hot ice, as big as
the Arctic ocean.
The trigger-less event is set by "Pi, the Prime Intellect". A bankrupted
China is backing Pi, the people's Internet God. Pi arose from their
Google replacement. Pi is caught repeatedly storing DNA maps of
Earth in its satellites.
After the bloodless virtual reality wars, and the dust is washed away by Pi,
the DNA maps are used to re-clone Earth. Some injection banks of
Nietzschean survivor souls were stored from a similar epoch on the curve of
the second-last Atlantean cycle. We are it.
Capitalism loses out by default, although for a time parallel to the
Prime Intellect, remains widely used by the dwindling supporters of
Israel. After that, only five circumcised are allowed to be alive at any
one time.
From a Synarchy at Atlantis, ecofascism rules the world
for the next 45000 years. Hidden bushmen start to reappear from Africa
and finally the Silk Road is open again, a golden path leading
inevitably across to Alaska. Atlantis in Wisconsin, The legend of
Tyranena, both give us a good account of what happens when gold walks in
and supplants an AI culture.
To complete the figure eight mobious strip, or exactly how to twist the
plot on the repeating Atlantean cycle, Ice Age Magellans get from North
America across the Pacific and onto Egypt, but Pi is lost. Shortly
afterward the gold users overtake the Egyptians and a bible is
written to hide the truth.
The analogy is complete, the Bible is unhinged.
NEXT TIME... No star travel, no survivors.
DNA End
I was very excited to hear this from Google back in January. Then weeks went by and nothing happened. I'll believe it when I see it.
Support the FairTax
Anyway.. (NOT COWARD) ..openID just takes a long time...
I'm sick and tired of leaving my data everywhere in the web.. Is enough..
About Google.. they have almost 3 month saying good bye.. like poor's people circus GOODBYE(so long goodbye) drunk's men goodbye. I could bet they'll stay..