Marissa Mayer's New Project is a Suite of Timesaving Apps (fastcompany.com) 74
The Google and Yahoo vet shares a few cryptic details about her new foray into the productivity space with Lumi Labs. From a report: Mayer remains cryptic about the specific types of apps Lumi has under development, and the time frame for their launch. But she will say that Lumi stands to benefit from the kinds of AI breakthroughs that Silicon Valley researchers are making in areas such as teaching cars to drive themselves. This kind of work, she says, is immediately useful for the tools Lumi is devising to automate activities "so mundane and so time-consuming that a lot of people [choose not to] do them." For instance, the company is applying machine learning to certain photo-related tasks such as figuring out whether a particular image "is blurry, whether it's well lit, whether it's one that someone is likely to want to share based on the history of photos they shared in the past."
If Lumi's apps take off, it won't be through the company's use of AI alone. "We want our products to be thoughtful, to feel nice when they're used," explains Mayer, who was once famous for zealously guarding Google's search engine against complication and clutter. She admits that she misses the days when the products she launched reached hundreds of millions of people. But with Lumi, "the hope is to be able to have that kind of impact and scale at some point," she says. "That's certainly what we will be building for."
If Lumi's apps take off, it won't be through the company's use of AI alone. "We want our products to be thoughtful, to feel nice when they're used," explains Mayer, who was once famous for zealously guarding Google's search engine against complication and clutter. She admits that she misses the days when the products she launched reached hundreds of millions of people. But with Lumi, "the hope is to be able to have that kind of impact and scale at some point," she says. "That's certainly what we will be building for."
I bet she can do for Lumi as she did for Yahoo! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
The aspect of successful people is that they are not afraid to fail, and when they do fail, they learn from it and change.
People who do not fail, often don't take enough chances and doesn't gain experience to learn from and get better.
Yahoo is a sinking ship, no matter how good of a captain you are, if the ship is sinking it is going down.
Re: (Score:3)
That explains why the con artist isn't successful. He never learns from his multitude of failures. He keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over.
Re: (Score:1)
You need to give Schiff a break. He has to answer to Nancy, after all.
Any idiot can run a ship aground... (Score:5, Insightful)
Any idiot can run a ship aground. People like Mayer are not afraid to fail because they are delusional and never see anything they do as a failure. They will walk away from a smoking crater that used to be a functioning company and pat themselves on the back for doing a great job.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
It also helps if you are the girlfriend of a founder of Google. Oh wait, dirty little secret?
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, dirty little.
Re: (Score:2)
She's not only not afraid of anything, she has no shame. In short, she's a great place to send your money if you have too much of it.
Re: (Score:2)
The aspect of successful people is that they are not afraid to fail, and when they do fail, they learn from it and change. People who do not fail, often don't take enough chances and doesn't gain experience to learn from and get better.
Yahoo is a sinking ship, no matter how good of a captain you are, if the ship is sinking it is going down.
Well, Since I've been on the Interwebs, Yahoo has been dying. To the point that a lot of things that weren't dying are no longer with us. Yahoo does a lot more than Search Engine - It has a decent Sports section with competent writers, news and other stuff.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I bet she can do for Lumi as she did for Yahoo! (Score:5, Insightful)
I used to work at Yahoo when she was there. Yahoo was a mess until she showed up and turned it into a 4 alarm dumpster fire. One thing to know about Marissa Mayer is she is in love with the sound of her own voice and she does NOT listen to single word anyone has to say.
Re: (Score:2)
Except to steal their ideas and claim them as her own, but that is normal corporate policy at the top but there will always be winners and losers at that game, who gets away with it and who gets demoted.
Re: (Score:2)
Hopefully she's using her own money, which will be entertaining.
Re: (Score:2)
Did anyone really think Yahoo could be saved?
I was always under the impression that she was hired to lead Yahoo's demise and I mean that in a good way. The Yahoo board knew they were going down and it was a matter of making Yahoo as appealing as possible for a buyout. They chose Marissa to decide when and where Yahoo would crash and burn.
Re: (Score:1)
Sure waiting for this (Score:5, Insightful)
What episode from her professional career would lead one to think she knows anything about productivity?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Sure waiting for this (Score:4, Interesting)
IIRC, She was a project manager at Google. That counts for something, right?
And, as time went on, she basically got sidelined - so it would appear the leadership at Google didn't particularly value her skills.
No (Score:5, Insightful)
This has been awful for actually talented women and minorites. Bascially waters down their accomplishments, making everyone (including members of their own race and gender) second guess their abilites until they know them well.
Forced "diversity" has been a disaster, and anyone with a brain could see this coming.
wow (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
wow my comment got labelled troll. How is this a trolling? If you have a counter argument, i am all ears.
Even trolls get mod points on occasion. As well, once you reach a certain point, you'll even get people stalking you.
Someone has been stalking me recently marking all my posts redundant. Whatev's
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Doesn't matter what your gender or race is, when you see a woman or a minority working a in big company these days you always have to ask yourself "was this person hired for the wrong reasons?"
It doesn't matter what you're race or gender is, if you look at someone different then you and you have to ask yourself if they were hired for the wrong reason...it's not the other person that has the problem.
Re: (Score:2)
So you can't ask that question at all? Ever?
I never said that. Asking yourself "how the hell did you get they get that job" when there is a display of incompetence is perfectly acceptable. However, OP's comments where that "you always have to ask yourself". Which would imply that "was this person hired for the wrong reasons?" is the DEFAULT reaction to seeing a minority in a job. Look up the term "prejudice" in the dict
Re: (Score:1)
only you did.
I hope you understand why you are being called an sjw.
you hear something that makes you uncomfortable, don't even think about what they are saying, just call them racist.
god forbid you could simply acknowledge the truth in what was said.
no, just keep calling the person who spoke racist.
maybe you can get him cancelled. lol
Re: No (Score:1)
Right. It's the company that has a problem.
Yeah (Score:1, Interesting)
remember when they fired jame damore for simply telling the truth (and being a white male) on an internal email thread?
there are leaked internal documents that show the company internally promotes the racist theory of intersectionality.
they have been accused, by quite a large number of people, of favoring left leaning politics. they obviously do. just fire up private mode or incognito mode in your browser and go to news.google.com. it is obviously biased.
Re: (Score:2)
Google has a lot of problems.
Can't disagree with you there.
remember when they fired jame damore for simply telling the truth (and being a white male) on an internal email thread?
[emphasis mine] Yeah, way to boil that one right down. I doubt any of the nuisance of the situation got lost in that translation.
there are leaked internal documents that show the company internally promotes the racist theory of intersectionality.
I'd never heard that term before today. From the brief reading on the subject I did, seems like the general gist is that "discrimination can have different facets". Kind of hard to get "racist" out of it. But, whatever, I don't have the mental capacity to argue this one today.
they have been accused, by quite a large number of people, of favoring left leaning politics. they obviously do. just fire up private mode or incognito mode in your browser and go to news.google.com. it is obviously biased.
And? Bias exists everywhere. Obviously you're biased towards the right
Re: (Score:1)
Yeah, way to boil that one right down. I doubt any of the nuisance of the situation got lost in that translation.
the nuisance of the situation? So google should just throw their employee under a bus becuase some sjw in the company leaked an internal document?
seriously, that is your argument? Google was completely in the wrong. Do you know much about the incident? Arguing that google did the right thing is absurd.
I'd never heard that term before today. From the brief reading on the subject I did, seems like the general gist is that "discrimination can have different facets". Kind of hard to get "racist" out of it..
I repect that you admit to not knowing what it is. Its basically a caste sytem. whites, males, on the bottom. it is extremley racist. in fact, thats about all it is. a new name for discrimination base
Re: (Score:2)
You are right, I don't know enough about the termination situation to judge the case. From what I do know, I would agree that Google was in the wrong by terminating the dude. I disagree with the characterization that he was fired for being a white male. It could be argued that he was fired for criticizing the organization via an open letter to the company instead of following proper channels. From my outside perspective, there COULD be some element of attention seeking following the path he took.
As far a
Re: (Score:1)
It could be argued that he was fired for criticizing the organization via an open letter to the company instead of following proper channels.
He did not write an open letter. He was asked for his opinion on an internal program. The response was meant to be private. It was the proper channel. He was following their rules to the tee.
Last part, then I have to get some work done... Saying your biased to the right isn't a fair statement. I consider myself pretty well center-left on most issues, more left-center on social issues. I'd say that you are accurate, it seems to me that you are biased more towards the right on this particular conversation.
I appreciate that. good bumping heads you. take it easy.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Huh. I've never been called a sjw before. I guess if all it takes to qualify as a one is "not being predisposed to immediately judging someone based on their gender or race" then you may as well print me up a membership card.
You'll notice that I never said that there weren't under-qualified people being hired for the wrong reason, just pointing out that it may be a bit dickish when your first reaction to a skirt or brown person is to question their qualifications. I've worked with plenty of white dudes t
Re: (Score:1)
Maybe you are in denial? or maybe you are very young.
just pointing out that it may be a bit dickish when your first reaction to a skirt or brown person is to question their qualifications.
Not really, well, depends what you mean. Do you mean internally? the "reaction" in your mind? (Which certainly is not what i said) If so then no, it's certainly not "dickish" to have private thoughts in your mind. Obviously. Or were you trying to say that you would actually "react" physically in some way that would insult or offend someon
Re: (Score:2)
I understand what you are saying. But do you actually think that your sub conscience doesn't ask that question? Maybe you are in denial? or maybe you are very young.
What's your definition of "very young", I don't think I qualify. But no, honestly, my sub-conscience doesn't ask that. I'm not trying to act high and mighty, my default is just to assume that the person in front of me is qualified to do their job.
Do you mean internally? the "reaction" in your mind? (Which certainly is not what i said) If so then no, it's certainly not "dickish" to have private thoughts in your mind.
Yes, I meant internally. And if you don't feel as though prejudice, even an internal prejudice, is dickish then you and I likely aren't going to see eye to eye on this subject. I guess the disconnect here is that I haven't worked with a company with an aggressi
Re: (Score:1)
Since there are diversity quotas in big companies (thanks to sjw mental illness), people who are not the best applicant for the job will sometimes end up getting the position.
These are just facts
Re: (Score:2)
Not really, well, depends what you mean. Do you mean internally? the "reaction" in your mind? (Which certainly is not what i said) If so then no, it's certainly not "dickish" to have private thoughts in your mind.
Ohhhh, if they only knew the thoughts that enter a guys mind.....
Re: (Score:2)
when you see a woman or a minority a in big company these days you always have to ask yourself "was this person hired for the wrong reasons?"
"see" would imply that you haven't worked with them and aren't directly familiar with their abilities, and are judging them based on something else. Wouldn't that be the textbook definition of prejudice?
Re: (Score:2)
do you acknowledge your own prejudice and preconceived notions?
Absolutely.
They are natural and can not be controlled.
Recognizing them, understanding why they are there, and working to correcting them is helpful to me.
Everybody has them, its best not to call people dickish for it.
That's fair. I apologize.
(and again, do you have any argument other than the standard sjw "you are racist")
I want to point out, I have not said the word "racist" once. A person can be prejudice without being racist.
Re: (Score:2)
I've worked with plenty of white dudes that shouldn't be in their job either.
No doubt. Incompetence can happen no matter the genitalia or skin tone.
But just a note, "white dudes" has become a racial slur over the last year or two.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I can't tell if you're being facetious or not... I just can't keep up any more.
Yeah, you're getting inundated here. But we see a lot of women referring to "old white dudes" in the context of race, used as a pejorative.
So it's ageist, "racist", and sexist by definition.
full disclosure - Race is 100 percent a social construct. Any fertile female of any "race" can reproduce with any virile male of any "race", and successfully produce offspring that in turn can reproduce with any other "race" That's no more "race" than brown horses or black horses or horses with spots being differen
Re: (Score:2)
Doesn't matter what your gender or race is, when you see a woman or a minority working a in big company these days you always have to ask yourself "was this person hired for the wrong reasons?"
It doesn't matter what you're race or gender is, if you look at someone different then you and you have to ask yourself if they were hired for the wrong reason...it's not the other person that has the problem.
So if it is the woman or minority wondering if she was hired on the basis of her genitalia or skin tone - she is the problem? I've been told "We are looking to hire a woman" before the first interview ever happened. In the interest of transparency and honesty, should I tell the winning candidate that?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Haha, that's funny. Google has famously bad project managers. At one point they were hiring Microsoft interns to be project managers. How'd that work out?
Anyway, they call them PMs to make it sound like project manager but oh wait you actually need education in critical path and details like that to be a project manager so guess what? PM actually means product manager, which means you don't actually need to know anything at all to be one, and that's exactly what Google's PMs know. Google learned this trick
Re:Sure waiting for this (Score:4, Insightful)
What episode from her professional career would lead one to think she knows anything about productivity?
Very true, but I'm still struggling as to the point of it all. They claim to develop smartphone apps that help people “save a few minutes every day”
In today's world, it's completely acceptable to be a social media addict who wastes a shitload of time each week doing nothing more than stroking some virtual identity while binge watching hours of the latest reality shitshow. What the hell makes anyone assume people are actually concerned about time efficiency?
Putting the "solution" for time management inside a smartphone is like telling an alcoholic the cure for addiction will be sold inside your local bar.
Re: (Score:3)
“Where is my iPad?”
- “Steve mailed you about borrowing it last week, shall I ask if he has it?”
“Anything urgent going on with Project X?”
According to the las
Re: (Score:2)
Or even worse, the cure for addiction will be in that bottle of vodka.
Re: (Score:2)
What aspect of anyone's professional career would lead one to think that they know anything about productivity?
Productivity isn't an end point, but a continual improvement. It is extremely difficult to fairly measure, and anyone who says they are an expert in productivity are lying, because all their best practices and rules go out the window when they get to the next company.
Re: Sure waiting for this (Score:1)
"What aspect of anyone's professional career would lead one to think that they know anything about productivity?"
Having actually done something productive?
Re: (Score:3)
To be fair, she did spend a lot of time tweaking the Yahoo! logo.
History vs. Crowd (Score:2)
Flip it
A hero's reward. (Score:2)
For all those who've heroically "saved" time, what did you do with it?
Re:A hero's reward. (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
It usually goes into increase value work.
Lets use a secretary from a 1980's small business say a hardware store.
During the 1980's most of her work is around manually calculating the time sheets of the employees, and doing payroll.
They get a computerized time system. So now that computer does 99% of her old job. But now she isn't fired, because she is now helping with marketing flier, to send out where before their only advertising was their roadside presence. The store may be able to offer additional benef
Re: (Score:2)
Read Slashdot.
Avoid (Score:2)
touchy feelly apps (Score:3, Insightful)
Save time by not thinking much about this. (Score:5, Interesting)
Not to seem cynical, but this sounds all too stupid. "Mayer remains cryptic about the specific types of apps Lumi has under development ..."
> Which suggests that it is mostly vaporware, and that this bit of "journalism" is just a publicity stunt.
"... tools Lumi is devising to automate activities so mundane and so time-consuming that a lot of people choose not to do them. For instance, the company is applying machine learning to certain photo-related tasks such as figuring out whether a particular image is blurry, whether it’s well lit, whether it’s one that someone is likely to want to share ...".
> So, you are too busy to look at the snapshot you just took and decide for yourself if you want to send it to someone. Anyone so stressed for time that they cannot look at a pic and decide if they want to share it would do well not to play with their phone in the first place, not to waste time taking marginal pictures of their dog's food bowl or whatever they are obsessed with.
"She admits that she misses the days when the products she launched reached hundreds of millions of people. But with Lumi, the hope is to be able to have that kind of impact and scale at some point, she says."
> Funny, she inherited Flickr (and all of Yahoo), the biggest most important photo site on the web at one point, where she could easily have reached millions of people with "Am I a fuzzy picture?" app, and she borked and bungled that.
"Marissa Mayer's New Project is a Suite of Timesaving Apps".
> Want to save time? Don't pay much attention to this.
Whenever I hear the word "timesaving" (Score:3, Interesting)
All I can think about is all the time I have to waste, re-learning my workflow, because some jackass decided to re-arrange the UI (insert most often used application) for no goddamn good reason other than to continue to justify the air and space they take up.
There is a reason people have to be forced to upgrade (Adobe, Microsoft are you fucking listening?) to the next version...because it never seems to actually save time.
Girl, Stanford was 20 years ago (Score:2)
Girl, Stanford was 20 years ago. You can't ride this horse forever. Eventually you'll have to deliver results. Thus you've shown again and again that you can't do that.
Golden Parchute (Score:1)