Google

Office wars are back

It’s been a while since I heard something from the office applications front lines. And today, while catching with news in my Google Reader, here is what I saw (or almost what I saw, since I am reading in Expanded mode, and not in List):

Three articles in a row, and all are about the office applications. Either it’s an unlikely coincidence, or TechMeme is doing something wrong, or … the office wars are back and that’s the most exciting and hyped about topic in the tech industry right now. Which one do you think it is?

P.S.: Here are the links to the articles: one, two, three.

Jobs vs. Schmidt = product vs. service

Gizmodo is running a very speculative – and yes, there are speculations, – post about a meeting between Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt. It took place in a public place, and someone noticed it and made a couple of pictures and now everyone and their brother is running around trying to figure out what these two were talking about. Things went as far as even consulting a body language expert.

Firstly, my reaction to this is: “C’mon! Leave them alone already!“. Who cares? But it seems too many people do. So there kicks in my second reaction – since we don’t really know what it was all about, let’s speculate and blow this out of all proportions. After looking at the pictures, reading through the comments, and through the body language expert’s analysis, here is my view of what is captured on those pictures.

This is, quite obviously, a historical moment, where two schools of thought are standing against each other. Steve Jobs represents the old school which stands for closed things and for products, as in things that you can touch, feel, and break. Eric Schmidt represents the new school of thought, which is characterised by openness and the idea of a service. Two great men with two great companies behind them meet at the neutral point. And while Eric seems to be more uncomfortable, as body language expert suggests, the important bit here is that they are at the same table on the same terms. The clash of the titans, so to speak. The outcome is obvious for some of us though. Go, Eric, go!

P.S.: Before you start throwing lava balls at me, I do mean this as a joke, and yes, I am drunk. It’s Friday night after all.

P.P.S.: There is some truth to every joke.

Politically repressed 6 year olds

Via Slahdot I ended up reading New York Times interview with Sergey Brin. Quote:

Mr. Brin lived in the Soviet Union until he was nearly 6 years old, and he said the experience of living under a totalitarian system that censored political speech influenced his thinking — and Google’s policy. “It has definitely shaped my views, and some of my company’s views,” he said.

I’m sure they meant it different or something got lost in translation (I am not a native English speaker after all), but I don’t see how being under 6 years of age, Sergey could have been influenced by the totalitarian system. The only totalitarian system which kids of that age know about is the system of parental / guardian control.

Some of that Google stuff is not for you

Google is all over the news recently with more and better applications. However, not all of those applications are for you, an average Joe. Consider for example the blog post about their updates to DoubleClick Ad Exchange, that they’ve bought some time ago.

Imagine you’re a major online publisher with a popular global surfing website and an ad sales team. Every second of every day, you have difficult decisions about what ads to show and how to measure their relative performance.

I think you can stop reading immediately after those lines. Of course, there are plenty of global publishers who are using Google services in one form or the other. But let’s face it – you are not one of them.

On privacy

Blogoscoped quotes Google executives on the issue of privacy.

Eric Schmidt:

“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” Eric goes on to say, “But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines – including Google – do retain this information for some time. And it’s important, for example, that we’re all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act… it is possible that that information could be made available to the authorities.”

Marissa Mayer:

“I really feel that the virtual world follows the physical world … There’s very few things you can do anonymously in the physical world. I think that over time, on the internet, there will be less anonymity. And I actually think that’s good; I think it creates, you know, more accountability, people acting more responsibly.”

And here is a quote from law #9 – Absolute anonymity isn’t practical, in real life or on the Web – from Microsoft’s own 10 immutable laws of security:

All human interaction involves exchanging data of some kind. If someone weaves enough of that data together, they can identify you. Think about all the information that a person can glean in just a short conversation with you. In one glance, they can gauge your height, weight, and approximate age. Your accent will probably tell them what country you’re from, and may even tell them what region of the country. If you talk about anything other than the weather, you’ll probably tell them something about your family, your interests, where you live, and what you do for a living. It doesn’t take long for someone to collect enough information to figure out who you are. If you crave absolute anonymity, your best bet is to live in a cave and shun all human contact.