Google’s Eric Schmidt talks about how to run the world (not that he wants to)
Los
Angeles Times
TECHNOLOGY
BLOG
Jim
Puzzanghera
JUNE 9, 2008 3:48 PM PT
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article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos,
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Despite
its famous motto of ‘Don’t be evil,’ there are some in the dark corners of the
Web who speculate that Google’s real plan is to take over the world. Google Watch features headlines such
as ‘Google Must be Stopped,’ and ‘Is Google God?’ The site Google World Domination even
has a countdown clock, which indicates that the Skynet-type moment when we will
all be slaves to the mighty Google algorithms will
take place in roughly 6 years and 192 days. (Interestingly, the site, which
includes a creepy video, features ads by Google,
demonstrating how insidious that plot actually might be).
With
that type of speculation out there, it’s news any time a Google executive talks
about running the world.
And
that’s exactly what Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt did today, sort
of.
He
didn’t say that Google wanted to run the world. But he did offer an interesting
suggestion to a crowd of power players in Washington about the best way to do
it: Just like Google.
‘It
is possible to build a culture around innovation. It is possible to build a
culture around leadership. And it is possible to build a culture around
optimism. Google is an example, but by no means the only example, of a culture
that can be built based on relatively scalable principles. We could run our
country this way. We could run the world this way.’
It
was meant to be an inspiring moment ...
...as
Schmidt wrapped up a speech to the Economic Club of Washington during
a luncheon in a packed ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Click
here for an audio clip of Schmidt’s comments.
The
appearance was a homecoming of sorts for Schmidt. Vernon
E. Jordan Jr.,
the club’s president and a former President Clinton advisor, noted
that Schmidt was born a few blocks away from the hotel at George Washington
University Hospital, and grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs. His mother,
Ellie Schmidt, was in the audience.
Schmidt
talked about cloud computing and the promise of mobile devices, all the while
plugging some Google products. For the journalists sitting in the back of the
room (no lunch of seared beef filet with Cabernet reduction and lemon and thyme
glazed salmon filet for us), Schmidt did commisserate about the state of the
newspaper industry.
‘We
all care a lot about this. Newspaper demand has never been higher. The problem
is revenues have never been lower. So people are reading the newspaper they’re
just not reading it in a way where the newspapers can make money on it. This is
a shared problem. We have to solve it. There’s no obviously good solution right
now.’
One
possible solution some have have floated has been for Google to use a sliver of
its approximately $175 billion market cap to buy a newspaper, such as the New
York Times, but Schmidt recently
downplayed such an idea.
Like
many Silicon Valley executives who come to Washington, Schmidt spoke broadly
about technology (his speech was titled, ‘The Future of the Internet: Engine
for Economic Growth’) and did his best not to make any major news. He didn’t
even come close to mentioning Yahoo, let alone comment on the possibility of
Google cutting a deal to place ads next to Yahoo’s search results.
Schmidt
opted to talk less about the nuts-and-bolts of one of the world’s largest
companies than the ways in which technology can shape the future. Noting that
the United States was founded ‘by people who saw a better model,’ Schmidt
concluded his speech with this call to arms:
‘So
let’s be revolutionaries. Let’s take this opportunity, this huge change that is
before us, with technlology, and let’s change businesses, communications and
the way we interact, on some new principles that reflect the very best of
America.
Those
sound like the words of someone who might be considering a run for higher
office one day, assuming Google isn’t running everything by then.
--
Jim Puzzanghera
Puzzanghera,
a staff writer, covers tech and media policy from Washington.
Connecting
the Dots:
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. was president of the Economic Club of Washington and is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
David M.
Rubenstein is the president of the Economic Club of Washington, the
co-chairman for the Brookings Institution (think tank), was a
benefactor at the Aspen Institute (think tank) and spent
Thanksgiving with Joe Biden.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings
Institution (think tank) and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for
the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Charles M.
Firestone is an executive director, Communications and Society Program
for the Aspen Institute (think tank) and a member of the Cosmos
Club.
William R. Tiefel is
a member of the Cosmos Club and the chairman for the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel Company.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Eric E. Schmidt was
the CEO for Google Inc. and is the chairman emeritus for the New
America Foundation.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder
for the New America Foundation.
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society and is Jonathan
Soros’s father.
Jonathan Soros is George
Soros’s son and a director at the New America Foundation.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the New America Foundation.
Google Inc. was
a funder for the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for
the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
George Soros is the founder
& chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Resources:
Past Research
Reports:
Arrested Saudi Princes Being Held at Luxury Ritz Carlton in Riyadh (Past Research on the Ritz Carlton)
MONDAY,
NOVEMBER 6, 2017
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2017/11/reports-arrested-saudi-princes-being.html
Smaller
Bites – David Rubenstein (Connecting the Dots: David Rubenstein, Joe Biden, The
Smithsonian Institution, Economic Club of Washington, The U.S. Supreme Court
& The Soros Funded Think Tanks, All Networking) (Past
Research on the Economic Club of Washington)
TUESDAY,
NOVEMBER 22, 2022
https://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2022/11/smaller-bites-david-rubenstein.html
FAKE
NEWS: Google Targets Daily Wire, Other Conservative Sites With Left-Wing Fact
Checks, Immunizes Left-Wing Sites (Past Research on
Google)
THURSDAY,
JANUARY 11, 2018
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