|
|
|
December 07, 2010
Remember Pearl Harbor, lest it become "outdated content"
I try to remember every year. And I can't think of a better reason than the fact that (unlike Bing) Google would have us forget. So what did I do? In spite of if not because of the obvious irony involved, I promptly Googled Google on the subject and found a Google discussion -- titled "Why is there no Google Doodle in honor of December 7th? (Pearl Harbor)." Right up at the top, a red bar warns, "This discussion contains outdated content." As outdated as remembering Pearl Harbor, no doubt. Like this outdated remark from a whole year ago: 12/7/09 Have we already forgotten about "a date that will live in infamy"? Then again it looks like people have already forgot about what actually happened on 9/11 as well...Or, how about a turkey doodle day? 12/7/09 You can do "Turkish National Day" but not pearl harbor day?? The Japaneses market will probably be offended I'm sure.....I'm using Bing!For that occasion, Google very thoughtfully turned one of their O's into an Islamic crescent.
Then there was this outdated comment: 12/8/09 They devote a week and a half to Sesame Street, yet don't observe Pearl Harbor Day, the birthday of the Constitution and the birthday's of our military branches. I'm waiting to see if they are going to observe the birthday of the Bill of Rights. I did notice that their competetion, Bing.com, is observing Pearl Harbor Day in the memory of those who lost their lives and did our nation a great service. Without them, they probably wouldn't have a job. And I may have found a new search engine. I talk loudly and proudly and my friends will get wind of what has happened today.Things were even worse than poor Jessica imagined. Google did snub the birthday of the Bill of Rights, but they didn't just leave the plain old Google logo: they substituted a special logo to celebrate the birthday of LL Zamenhof: Today is the 118th anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Bill of Rights, but the buzz is not about the ten amendments. Instead, it is all about what search engine Google did, or rather did not do today. Internet is on fire right now with people discussing why Google chose to honor the 150th birthday of the 'father' of Esperanto L.L. Zamenhof rather than honoring the anniversary of the signing of the Bill of Rights, a milestone event in the history of the United States.I guess now that it's a year later, that issue is "outdated content." Why would Google think the invention of a language that faded into near total obscurity is more important than the Bill of Rights? I think Glenn put it well. "They're citizens of the world at Google."I prefer being a citizen of the United States who remembers Pearl Harbor. UPDATE: Many thanks to Glenn Reynolds for linking this post, and a warm welcome to all. Comments appreciated, agree or disagree. UPDATE: Co-blogger M. Simon is a veteran whose father served in World War II. Check out his Pearl Harbor Day post. posted by Eric on 12.07.10 at 03:05 PM
Comments
So they noted Turkey's national day in Turkey, with the Turkish flag. They also did Canada day in Canada, and the Fourth of July (with the US flag!) in the US. The problem, I am not seeing it. (That said, I appreciate Bing's sensibilities around American history.) Sigivald · December 7, 2010 06:29 PM i would love to leave google, but having an android and using almost their entire suite of products, sadly i don't see it happening. kurt mueller · December 7, 2010 06:31 PM M. Simon · December 7, 2010 06:41 PM Surely someone at Google realizes there is a click for Bing behind every blade of grass. arlo · December 7, 2010 07:20 PM Last straw. Sigh, but now I have to also move off gmail; what a pain. Fred the Fourth · December 7, 2010 07:28 PM Perhaps Google should just skip the fun logos and stick with a simple, boring corporate image that won't offend anyone. It's just a logo. Someone at Google has a little fun drawing up a logo that celebrates something random. Why are you looking into some deep meaning any time they miss an important day? aragul · December 7, 2010 07:55 PM I'm curious and hope someone can provide an honest answer. Did Google do anything to mark the anniversary of Hiroshima or Nagasaki? If they did and didn't include Pearl Harbor, that would be very telling. Larry J · December 7, 2010 08:43 PM I agree, Google has pulled too many of these little stunts, I stopped using Google a few months ago, don't miss it, there are other search engines out there. Patrick · December 7, 2010 10:03 PM I moved over to Bing because of this. Google's motto is "Don't Be Evil", but they are developing a postmodernist idea of what that means. Ellen · December 7, 2010 10:29 PM There is a segment of the non US Google users who are annoyed at US symbols and days of note... but on the other hand, others might be interested and 'google' them as they come up... and learn something about the US system and history... I've read about students in China who could quote Lincoln at length.. US history giving them an alternative to the ideology taught to them in school... this is a good thing. No reason for us to shy away from our history or what our revolution brought to the world. If Google employees are ashamed of it, they’re the problem… not the history… Thomass · December 7, 2010 11:23 PM Another Google user moving to Bing. I am thinking about moving from Yahoo also. Thanks. Zain · December 7, 2010 11:25 PM Google's motto aside, their ethos is ,"Don't be American". ccoffer · December 8, 2010 12:24 AM Bets on whether tomorrow grants us a John Lennon doodle? The media is doing everything in their power to convince the world that the only outrageous thing to happen in history the first week of December happened on a Manhattan streetcorner in 1980. arminius · December 8, 2010 08:22 AM Oops, I forgot to look at the date, and no John Lennon doodle. They had one last year though. http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/10/googles-john-lennon-doodle.html Anyway, the point still stands about the media generally. Far more writeups about the 1980 story over the the 1941 story. arminius · December 8, 2010 08:26 AM I also found it curious that the National Geographic Channel chose last night to air a Lisa Ling piece on Hiroshima. Nothing on Pearl Harbor. RickC · December 8, 2010 11:05 AM I know their servers can track IP addresses. They can tell in what city and country your request originated. So any competent webmaster can create tables that match appropriate logo cartoons for the holidays/anniversaries appropriate to each country/language. Google Corporation chooses to not do this. We know Muslim theocracies don't celebrate Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Sesame Street, Women's rights or any other civil liberties. And I sure as shot won't celebrate ramadan. But being respectful to your customers is a basic rule of business no matter what country/language you work in. So why is Google corporation pretending to be all International Citizen of the World. Because the clouds of SMUG are strong in their fantasyland. Number Six · December 8, 2010 11:16 AM Why do people expect Google or Bing or anybody to put doodles commemorating anything on their search page? I haven't minded the occasional, random, doodle about some obscure or famous, meaningless or meaningful, event. But I've noticed an increase lately in the doodle nonsense Mom · December 8, 2010 09:14 PM Post a comment
You may use basic HTML for formatting.
|
|
December 2010
WORLD-WIDE CALENDAR
Search the Site
E-mail
Classics To Go
Archives
December 2010
November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 May 2002 AB 1634 MBAPBSAAGOP Skepticism See more archives here Old (Blogspot) archives
Recent Entries
• Faith In Force
• An irritating feature that can't be turned off. But that's life. • Where's the war? And who are the warmongers? • Moving backwards with government assistance • War Baby • Remember Pearl Harbor, lest it become "outdated content" • Predictable, but not dull • Letting people in nursing homes suffer is a small price to pay... • Gratuitous and premature prognostication • Hating Democrats
Links
Site Credits
|
|
Hear, hear!!