There are two basic visions of the future of the web, and one of them is wrong. I’m going to work on the right one for a while. At Google. Starting today.
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There are two basic visions of the future of the web, and one of them is wrong. I’m going to work on the right one for a while. At Google. Starting today.
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Well that was weird… opened up your homepage to see your “My Good Easy” post. Then pointed some feed parsing code at your site, and it came back with this post. Which convinced me that my code wasn’t ordering feed entries correctly, because obviously this post couldn’t be the latest since it wasn’t on your homepage. Eventually I got around to refreshing.
Dangit, stop writing posts while I’m using your site for testing!
In other news, uhm… well congrats are in order I guess. I’m a little shaky on who’s got what vision for the web. There doesn’t seem to be any shortage of visions these days. Google asked me if I wanted to work for them a week or so ago, but I have unchangeable travel plans that will effectively prevent me from entertaining the idea until sometime next year. And somehow I don’t think I meet their hiring standards anyways.
How much will this job affect your writing on http://diveintomark.org/?
Comment by Bob Aman — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:23 pm
Good luck. And don’t start mincing yr words, I enjoy yr straight lines.
Comment by gizo — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:35 pm
Well, congratulations are in order! That’s one place I’d like to work at myself. But when the floor sweeper position requires a degree, I know I’m probably not destined too.
Good fortune!
Comment by Jeff — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:38 pm
Whoa. Congrats!
Comment by Edward O'Connor — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
could you please extrapolate somewhat on these
two abovementioned visions and how google supports one?
as specifically as possible, and other than the money?
and does this mean that if i keep posting that there will be girls
stooping at the end of the drive knowing my personal flavor
of anality?
skeptical…
Comment by daniel smith — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
Sorry to see you go.
Comment by James Snell — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:49 pm
Congratulations.
Comment by Robert Sayre — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:50 pm
That’s going to be quite a commute to Lenoir!
Comment by Patrick Mueller — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:52 pm
Goodness gracious. Congratulations!
Comment by Phil Wilson — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Congrats! Looking forward to the fruits of your 20-percent time (and the other 80 percent too, I’m sure).
Comment by Mark Siegal — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 8:01 pm
Another vote for more details on this “right” vision you speak of. And congratulations.
Comment by Joshua Kaufman — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 8:02 pm
I’m not sure I understand your statement. Amazon’s low-level web services are much better than Google. Google’s focus is on providing real applications, not services, from what I’ve seen. Otherwise, why not be wide-open something like G-Drive??
Congrats! And Good Luck!
Comment by Brendan — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 8:16 pm
Congrats Mark!!
Comment by Saravanan — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 8:18 pm
“There are two basic visions of the future of the web, and one of them is wrong.”
The wrong one being the vision that says Chinese people should be able to learn about historical events?
Comment by Congrats, but ... — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 8:55 pm
Congratulations! It’s good to see another smart person joining the google team - hopefully you can talk them into taking accessibility seriously.
Comment by Jemaleddin — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:06 pm
Congrats! Looking forward to an entirely different kind of evil! :)
Comment by Anil — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
And witch one is the wrong vision??
Comment by Lucas Castro — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:12 pm
That’s great news, congratulations Mark!
Comment by ManxStef — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:16 pm
Sincere congratulations!
Comment by Joe Crawford — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:25 pm
Congrats on the new position. Are you moving to California?
Comment by Adrian Holovaty — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:35 pm
> Are you moving to California?
No, I will be working remotely from NC.
> That’s going to be quite a commute.
You have no idea.
Comment by Mark — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:51 pm
> How much will this job affect your writing on http://diveintomark.org/?
None at all.
Comment by Mark — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
First off, congratulations on the job. I’ve been reading diveintomark.org for what seems like forever - your post on “Linux essential apps” was probably the catalyst that finally switched me over permanently from Mac to Linux.
I’ve gotta call bullshit on the whole
though.
Google is a media company - as is Yahoo. They’re the Fox and Clear Channels of the web, and the same media consolidation that rendered television and radio next to useless is going on again.
There are more than two visions - you of all people should know this. Some are “right”, some are “wrong”. Right and wrong for who?
Google’s - massive datamining, countless media acquisitions, monopolistic competition, extreme profits over ethical practices, syphoning from the open community while giving next to nothing (SoC) back - are definitely not right for me.
Good luck all the same, and no matter how deep you descend into the Googleplex, remember - Don’t Be Evil. ;)
Comment by Steven Mansour — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
> I’m a little shaky on who’s got what vision for the web
http://diveintomark.org/archives/2006/08/23/overton-window , cheesy as it may be, is the best explanation I can give.
Comment by Mark — Monday, March 19, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
Ha! Got ya beat by 162 miles. We could meet up in Amarillo for lunch.
Comment by James Snell — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 1:29 am
> > That’s going to be quite a commute.
> You have no idea
Looks like if you used a different map, you might be able to shave some time off that commute…
In all seriousness, congratulations. You definitely deserve it.
Comment by Kenny — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 2:46 am
Cool!
Comment by Anne van Kesteren — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 4:31 am
“There are two basic visions of the future of the web, and one of them is wrong.”
Correction: “and one of them, IMHO, is wrong.”
:)
Best of luck!
Comment by Boris Anthony — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 4:50 am
Good luck.
Comment by Bas Westerbaan — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 5:41 am
Wow. I’ll be observing.
Comment by Lim Chee Aun — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 5:49 am
Congratulations!!
Comment by Koen Van der Auwera — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 6:51 am
> Correction: “and one of them, IMHO, is wrong.”
It’s a personal blog, it’s all implicitly ‘IMHO’.
Congrats, Mark.
Comment by Drew McLellan — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 7:00 am
Congratulations and good luck in your Dive Into the Google!
Comment by Jough Dempsey — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 7:07 am
Congratulations! Seems your doing so well you got rid of those pesky ads.
Comment by Jim Deming — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 7:41 am
Good luck, keep blogging :-)
Comment by Anders — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 8:59 am
Good luck and congratulations.
Comment by Jeff Triplett — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 3:02 pm
Wow. So Google hires a third person with accessibility knowledge. I’m sure that’ll fix everything right up.
The *enormity* of what’s wrong with Google beggars belief.
Comment by Joe Clark — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
Best wishes. Your work always educates me. One of these days I’ll even attempt the Linux thing!
Comment by Steve — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Guido van Rossum, Alex Martelli, Thomas Wouters, Mark Pilgrim… Google is the greatest Python lab on earth… What are they building? Maybe a Python-powered teleportation device… Beam me up, Guido!
Comment by Argonauta — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 6:00 pm
Congratulations.
Just remember: don’t be evil. It’s getting harder these days, and harder to see in Google.
Comment by Stephen Downes — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 7:29 pm
Isn’t addiction recovery supposed to teach you to be humble?
Comment by Andy — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 8:18 pm
I would say that there are ninety-nine basic visions of the future of the web, and all of them are wrong, or at least likely to prove highly inaccurate. To see why, read about the “future” of the web as predicted in 2000, 1998, 1996… and look at the web today.
Comment by Michael Day — Tuesday, March 20, 2007 @ 9:25 pm
I hope you win lest we have to wait another 4 years for the rest of the crowd to realize what is already apparent.
No one likes waiting for the slow to catch up.
Comment by J$ — Wednesday, March 21, 2007 @ 12:51 am
If I understand this correctly, Mr. Pilgrim doesn’t say that Google’s vision is right, he just asserts what he believes in as right, will be his job at Gúgöl. Whatever that will be: kign.
Comment by angelday true — Wednesday, March 21, 2007 @ 9:49 am
Congratulations! From the little I know you, I’m sure Google will be able to appreciate your creativity.
Comment by Håkan W — Thursday, March 22, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Will you be working at the Kirkland, WA campus?
Comment by anonymouse — Friday, March 23, 2007 @ 1:26 pm
LOL! LOVE the link to Google’s map about the trip, although… This 1 day, 17 hour time period is a bit rushed. I guess they assume we don’t stop for anything.
Congrats!
Comment by Renee — Saturday, March 24, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
Yeah, that “route” map prompted the following conversation:
Joe: Oh look, “only” 1 day 18 hours!
Mark: Yeah… if you’re an astronaut.
Joe: In diapers.
Mark: On crystal meth.
Comment by Mark — Saturday, March 24, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
> Will you be working at the Kirkland, WA campus?
No, I will be working remotely from my home in North Carolina, and commuting to the Mountain View campus every so often.
Comment by Mark — Saturday, March 24, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Hi Mark, congratulations on the move to Google. I hope you find it challenging and rewarding. What’s your role / scope there?
Mike.
Comment by Isofarro — Saturday, March 24, 2007 @ 9:48 pm
Hey, you could be the first kid on your block to finger a Thought Criminal in ROC.
After all, someone has to make all those iPods for Apple.
Comment by wwt — Sunday, March 25, 2007 @ 1:06 am
>No, I will be working remotely from my home in North Carolina, and commuting to the Mountain View campus every so often.
That’s pretty forward looking. Google, please cut me a deal to work from where-ever and check-in once a few weeks.
Google: Nawwwweeehhh … youre a nobody.
Comment by Anon — Sunday, March 25, 2007 @ 5:30 pm
> What’s your role / scope there?
50+ comments, and you’re the first person to ask me this question.
My official job title is “lead technical writer,” which is considered an engineering job for the purposes of classification within Google. Anyone who knows about how Google works will tell you that engineers are _extremely_ free to move around within the company, so who knows what I’ll be doing a year from now. Probably depends on how I spend that mystical 20% time. But for the moment, I am writing. A lot. Already.
Comment by Mark — Sunday, March 25, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Heh, that doesn’t sound like you’re too happy.
I just checked out the “Lead Technical Writer” position description at Googles job site - sounds pretty much exactly like you:
We are looking for someone who has a passion for web development and a deep understanding of web technology including advanced HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as a knack for explaining the all-too-common complicated quirks and edge cases.
Are you frustrated that there isn’t any good cross-browser documentation out there on the web? Do you maintain a web development blog or website in your spare time? Do you enjoy writing AJAX applications just for fun? When you encounter technologies that you are not familiar with, do you just go ahead and learn them? Do you love writing clear, accurate and helpful software documentation? Is the need to help your readers understand a technology and get going with it the overriding goal of everything you write? If so, send us your resume!
Preferred experience and skills:
* Ability and inclination to write your own sample code and test cases.
* Experience writing scripts or building tools to improve the process of generating documentation.
* Project management/planning/leadership experience.
* Experience working as a web applications developer.
I think most of that could be condensed into:
We are looking for someone who is Mark Pilgrim.
Comment by Ryan — Monday, March 26, 2007 @ 1:27 am