I think this article is a little bit naive. Google sent the email during IO, because the overwhelming flow of Google news simply obliterates any other news. Nobody cares about a Window Phone app while we are talking about new Android Studio, new Google Map, new G+ interface, new Gmail features, new apis, etc... "Microsoft violated YouTube license? Bad for them, now move on and let's talk about Android game development with Google Play Games".
The trap it's defused.
The things I care about seem to be the opposite of the things you care about. For instance, I'm ditching my third and last iPhone today for the Lumia 928 Windows Phone 8.
You are most definitely the only one. And judging from your comment history, you also like Windows 8, so rest assured that your opinions are far, far outside the mainstream.
>You are most definitely the only one. And judging from your comment history, you also like Windows 8, so rest assured that your opinions are far, far outside the mainstream
As an opportunity for introspection, please reconsider your life choices about spending your time trolling on HN. I'm assuming your dismissal of my opinion because I "like Windows 8" is from this comment which you apparently found on the third page of my comment history:
>Basically, after an hour or two of using Windows 8 I became used to the new interface. The only other thing that's important to do is replace the crappy Metro versions of applications with standard Windows versions.
So my description of Windows 8 as "the crappy Metro versions of applications" makes me a shill for Microsoft I guess. Wow, with friends like me Microsoft certainly doesn't need enemies like you.
Unfortunately for you since you appear to loathe Microsoft, my opinions are typically early for "the mainstream" as you say. I was the first of my friends to get an iPhone and was responsible for at least 60 other people purchasing an iPhone. Now people who respect my technical opinion will be following me to Windows Phone 8 or Android. Both platforms have surpassed anything that Apple has to offer.
Just last quarter, Windows Phone shipped on 6 million phones and Windows 8 sold total 100 million licensees. Someone who likes them is the "only one" and is "far, far out of the mainstream?".
Also what's up with people launching ad hominem attacks on people liking Windows instead of commenting on the topic on hand? What has your post got to do with Google blocking and refusing to make a YouTube app for Windows Phone?
"Ad hominem" is only an appropriate term to use if I was saying that he was making an argument, but that his argument was wrong because of some defect in his character. It isn't just used for any time anyone mentions the other person in a conversation.
In this case, no argument was made. He simply said "The things I care about seem to be opposite of the things you care about". That's not an argument, it's just a personal statement. Even if ad hominem WERE the correct term, it would be even LESS appropriate here, because he was the one who brought up his own tastes in the first place.
EDIT: And to respond to the rest of your post, numbers like those are meaningless. Unless they're presented in a comparative context, they're very much like showing someone a graph without its axes labeled.
So for comparative purposes, Windows Phone shipped on that many devices. Great. How many Android and iPhone devices were shipped in the same period?
So the implication of the article is that Microsoft deliberately made a YT app that they knew Google would be forced to C&D just so they could use that as a cog in a PR campaign? Seems penny wise pound foolish if true.
No, they got tired of begging Google for a Youtube app for close to three years for Windows Phone, so they went ahead and made one so that Windows Phone users will finally have a good app instead of getting frustrated by Google's deliberate strategy to make Windows Phone less attractive.
And Google wants to pull away that app from WP users by using legal bullying tactics.
So how did Microsoft get Google to promote the Scroogled campaign? The article claims this is what happened but there is no information about it or proof or any sort of logical link, only about MS publishing the C&D letter.
None of those stories say anything about scroogled either. My point is this particular article makes a premise and then completely fails to follow up on it. Its really poor writing.
Okay let me explain it. Microsoft wanted to point out that Gmail scans the contents of email while Outlook.com doesn't in the Scroogled campaign.
And now Google is trying legal tactics with a C&D to takedown to prevent Windows Phone users from getting a very popular smartphone app, YouTube, so they're smearing themselves here and helping the scroogled compaign paint them as evil.
Lol. Removing an app for violating the terms still has nothing to do with reading your emails. The only connection is that both have a some PR effect, but everything those companies do has it.
Just look at the comment section below the article. It's chockfull of microsoft's PR drones and MVPs saying all kinds of nasty things about Google and Apple and not really disclosing their affiliations with microsoft.
> It's chockfull of microsoft's PR drones and MVPs saying all kinds of nasty things about Google and Apple and not really disclosing their affiliations with microsoft.
I've been in the software industry for 28 years. I was there when microsoft invented their particular flavor of aggressive marketing. Search keywords "Evangelism is war" in case you're not familiar with how it works.
From Google's About page:
"Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."
Last time when Google was intentionally blocking Google maps and then deprecated ActiveSync on Windows Phone someone suggested Google should updated it to the following:(which seems quite true given how much of the world's crowdsourced video content is on YouTube):
"Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, except on Windows Phone".
Are you cooldeal? Because I see this account was created 6 hours ago.
No, I just thought his comment was very funny so I copy pasted it. Also, what if I was him/her? Whats your problem, really, with this off topic questioning?
>Also, what if I was him/her? Whats your problem, really
Well, looking at his previous postings he seems quite the dedicated Google fan and Microsoft hater. Nothing wrong with that, really but my best guess is that he has nothing to say about Google's evil power grab to hurt Windows Phone here or Google's hypocritical bogus Mission Statement, so he's doing the next best thing at damage control for Google by trying to draw a red herring by going ad hominem and accusing HN commenters of being MS astroturfers or something. Search me, I am puzzled as well as how your account age is related to this story.
Okay, let us assume that he does, so what? A lot of people work for Microsoft, Google and Apple and post on HN.
I didn't see a sign up message on HN stating that only Google and Apple employees/fans are allowed to post here.
Nice job at trying to derail the discussion. Now care tell us what do you think of the topic of this story instead of trying to go ad hominem on a tangent about some HN commenter's posting history which has nothing to do with anything really?
Edit: What in cooldeal's HN profile makes you think he works for Microsoft?
Microsoft's response(Lying at #40 on second page because of heavy flagging by Google fans in spite of it having more votes than many stories on front page):
Or just "heavy flagging"... it's a little ridiculous to claim that everyone who hates Microsoft is a Google fan. Microsoft did enough to earn my eternal contempt before Google even existed.
What kind of subs exactly? The ones critical of Google?
How about just skipping the story/comments and moving to the next instead of trying to bury real news for everyone by flagging?
From the HN guidelines:
If you think something is spam or offtopic, flag it by going to its page and clicking on the "flag" link. (Not all users will see this; there is a karma threshold.)
Your reply, which totally misses the point, is an elegant demonstration of just how fucking awful these threads are and exactly why they need to be buried.
There's no real news here. There's nothing deeply interesting. And the comments are just full of people who have deeply held polarised opinions bickering with each other.
The fact that you think I chose to bury something because it's critical of Google (I say plenty of anti-Google stuff) shows that you are over-sensitive and incapable of rational discussion. That's why threads like these are fucking terrible.
> You're basically abusing your mod privieleges.
No. This is a shitty thread. I'm proud I flagged it. I'd flag it again if I could.
It is a common misconception that if you have a very low opinion of microsoft you are automatically either a rabid Google fanboi or a rabid Apple fanboi. Myself, I don't hold either Google or Apple in especially high esteem.
You have to understand, however, that the generalized hatred of microsoft is nothing more, nothing less than a direct consequence of microsoft's past coming back to haunt them. No other company in tech comes even close to having so many skeletons in the closet. People have long memories and asking them to ignore microsoft's past is pure intellectual dishonesty.
Well, I submitted this story to see what the reaction of HN posters is. Well, almost no one here is commenting on topic because they seem to be squirming and are instead going on complete tangents by commenting about commenters and everyone else and then the submission gets flagged off the front page like every story on this Google C&D and you're accusing me of personal attacks? Really? How about some basic ethics, integrity and consistency from the other posters instead of trying to pretend that Google can do wrong and trying to derail and flag the story?