(cache)Bret Taylor on Twitter: "It turns out, when you write the code, you have a fair amount of power. 😏 We pocket vetoed the decision and launched with “Satellite.” And literally no exec noticed or remembered our review. And we have been deceiving people with our not-really-satellite imagery ever since."

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

Here’s a silly Google Maps origin story about how “Satellite” was almost named “Bird Mode”pic.twitter.com/wj7CRJUEyx

83 replies 2,806 retweets 6,421 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

In 2005, Google’s exec team (Larry, Sergey, etc) had a weekly product review meeting. We had launched Google Maps in February, and by summer, we’d integrated satellite imagery from our Keyhole (aka Google Earth) acquisition and were ready to launch — so we set up a launch review.

2 replies 22 retweets 253 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

There was a geeky holy war on the Maps team. When Lars checked in the code to switch between maps and imagery, he called it “Satellite.” We were quickly informed that a significant % of the images were taken from airplanes — “Aerial Photography.” Our name was factually incorrect.

3 replies 31 retweets 268 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

Being the product pragmatist I am, I thought, who cares? “Aerial Photography” doesn’t fit on a button, and every person in our usability study got what “Satellite” meant. Unfortunately, to the Keyhole GIS engineers, we were basically destroying humanity with our lies.pic.twitter.com/RAQvJr8cuc

9 replies 43 retweets 644 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

I could not resolve the disagreement before our launch review, so we come into the meeting room with an unnamed feature. As you might expect, the meeting devolved from a “launch review” to every Google exec and their mother naming the feature on our behalf. pic.twitter.com/siiA4u0ElZ

4 replies 15 retweets 488 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

Now, these exec reviews were Larry and Sergey’s favorite place to experiment with crazy meeting ideas (kind of fun, actually). I had attended one review where one founder spent the entire meeting on an elliptical machine. Their new experiment was a huge countdown clock.pic.twitter.com/OvZWSZZoOX

5 replies 19 retweets 249 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

The rule was: the review had to end on time. When the clock ticked zero, the buzzer would buzz, and like an NBA game, the meeting was over and decisions final. So here we are, throwing out names like “Airplane View,” “Superman,” “I Feel Picture-y,” and this clock is ticking down

1 reply 16 retweets 230 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

I think it was Sergey who spoke last. “Let’s call it Bird Mode.” Bzzzzzzzz. I start to speak and am cut off — meeting over. I look around, and it’s clearly evident the feature has officially been named “Bird Mode” in the most insane way possible.

4 replies 35 retweets 568 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

We spend the next few days freaking out. We knew the feature was going to be huge, and now it had this name that everyone on both sides of the Satellite-vs-Aerial-Photography war agreed was silly and horrible. But it was *decided*. So what do we do?

2 replies 13 retweets 259 likes

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Bret Taylor‏Verified account @btaylor Feb 23

It turns out, when you write the code, you have a fair amount of power. We pocket vetoed the decision and launched with “Satellite.” And literally no exec noticed or remembered our review. And we have been deceiving people with our not-really-satellite imagery ever since.

10:07 AM - 23 Feb 2019

351 Retweets
4,036 Likes

73 replies 351 retweets 4,036 likes

1. 1 more reply
1. Carl Hancock ‏ @carlhancock Feb 23
  Replying to @btaylor
  
  This could have been a scene straight out of HBO’s Silicon Valley.
  
  1 retweet 29 likes
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1. Nelson Minar‏ @nelson Feb 23
  Replying to @btaylor
  
  Ah, the value-add of an executive bored with meetings and inventing ways to be entertained. I remember that elliptical, it seemed profoundly disrespectful to the employees in meetings with them.
  
  25 likes
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1. Cesar Gustavo‏ @AvatarTavox Feb 23
  Replying to @btaylor
  
  wow and there was I a kid wondering how cool was that satellite that could picture my house from that distance. This is the "Santa is not real" for me. just wow. #everybodylies
  
  16 likes
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1. Diti Marguin‏ @DitiPengi Feb 23
  Replying to @btaylor
  
  Perfect example of the McDonald's Theory!https://medium.com/@jonbell/mcdonalds-theory-9216e1c9da7d …
  
  1 retweet 8 likes
  Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
  
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