> If you didn't know it already, think tanks are a euphemism for propaganda machine.
Surely the proper response would be to pay less attention to think tanks / propaganda machines. Google's action here may even be morally neutral; while it is unfortunate that this fellow and his coworkers lost their jobs, (our part of) the world has been given a timely reminder of the true nature of think tanks.
May I suggest a thought experiment? Imagine you cannot use a smartphone for a period of 12 months; certainly, you would expend a not insignificant effort in finding a very capable flip-phone, or other mobile option, combined with perhaps two or three other devices (GPS, MP3 player) which would adequately replicate these smartphone features.
Now apply that mental effort to seeking a suitably differentiated mobile phone and I am sure you will find success.
Design, culture, and technology are deeply intertwined; society warps to fit its tools. As designers (remember, design thinking has antecedentally one foot in industrial design, one foot in programming functional requirements gathering), the creators of today's digital tools have essentially abdicated the responsibility of thinking about how their products change culture and what effects they have, positive or negative. Instead, we nod towards market forces and "fail fast" capitalism, which ends up justifying whatever cool toys we end up wanting to create.
Surely the proper response would be to pay less attention to think tanks / propaganda machines. Google's action here may even be morally neutral; while it is unfortunate that this fellow and his coworkers lost their jobs, (our part of) the world has been given a timely reminder of the true nature of think tanks.