Please Pass The Bong, Carol | Hacker News Reader

Please Pass The Bong, Carol

techcrunch.com

10 pointsedw5197 comments

Call me crazy, and I'm not a particular fan of Yahoo, but this little attack piece by TC came across as snarky and unprofessional. I didn't think any of Carol's comments were particularly out of line, definitely not given the kind of hubris we see out of Jobs and Schmidt etc. on a daily basis. Even if her comments were somewhat marginally out of line, the whole "pass the bong" thing wasn't really called for, and is a complete cliche besides.

Also: bongs, being large and filled with water, aren't usually "passed". They're usually set out on a coffee table and each person takes a turn at the trough. Joints are passed. Get your drug lingo straight, geeks.

> this little attack piece by TC came across as snarky and unprofessional

Yes, it felt like a character assassination with little of value. If someone sent me this link in an email, I might fire back "What's actionable about this?" What decision does this help me make? Not to work there? Not to hire Carol? Not to develop against YHOO's APIs?

And while this really isn't news to any hacker, if we accused every CEO who makes wildly unrealistic criticisms of smoking dope, we'd characterize the entire Fortune 500 as a drug den. Has Ballmer ever publicly said anything realistic about Apple?

> smoking dope

I don't think anyone mentioned dope.

Bongs are most assuredly passed. Even sizable ones.

Yeah, seems like she has her hands full at Y! and, as CEO, makes time to occasionally say how their competition aren't that great and they're going to catch up fast. Isn't that her job? What CEO would say "yeah, we suck compared to Facebook and Google" in public?

> We can watch Rome burn together and laugh and laugh about how uninteresting Google and Facebook are.

Couldnt help laughing on reading this one.

This is Carol's "shtick" -- salty language and smug self-righteousness. She uses it to appear confident.

That being what it is, though, her position is a predictable one for her to take re: Google. When you're the loser in the market, you reach for statistically misleading statements like this. She has to make her investors feel good, somehow, I guess.

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