Google Shifts to Mobile
April 21, 2010
I read “Global CIO: Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s Top 10 Reasons Why Mobile Is #1”. My immediate reaction was that David Letterman’s top 10 list had a new challenger. Then I realized that these 10 items are no spoof. Taken as a group, Google is making it clear that the “old Web” is not where the future will be for Google. Is this a big change? No. Google has long had an interest in mobile with some interesting patent applications from a decade ago as tiny markers bobbing in the Google’s technical river.
What I find interesting is that the article identifies 10 reasons. I discerned one—money, but you can read the article and make your own decision.
Two of the points in the article struck me as notable.
First, put your best people on mobile. Sergey Brin’s name appears on a couple of patent documents related to mobile; for example, voice search. That’s a good person. I think that Google has applied quite a few of its best people to infrastructure and supporting technologies as well. Instead of looking at this top 10 item as unique, I think Google is applying resources to mobile and to other, related technical areas. The approach makes Google particularly noteworthy because it is more than a product company. Google is more diverse and mobile is one application of Google’s capabilities.
Second, the “everything now” idea. Google has been an everything now company, but it has been quite patient. Google’s management has rolled out puzzle pieces at different times. The result has been to make it hard for some analysts to see the big Google picture. I think mobile is another puzzle piece. As impressive as the company’s push into mobile has been, I think there is more to come. Mobile is not the end game. The everything now demographics will demand more connectivity, convenience, speed, and services. Google is going to make a run at providing that array. Devices can be implanted, embedded, and sewn into people, places, and things. Is this everything now and everywhere?
To wrap up, this article is one of the first that has been able to identify 10 points made by a Google top gun since I have been tracking the company. I still see one point—money. But that’s my narrow perspective.
Stephen E Arnold, April 21, 2010
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