The Wall Street Journal Calls Motorola a Toy

April 12, 2012

I think the Wall Street Journal is owned by the News Corp. I have a tough time keeping track of real journalists these day. Here in Kentucky, the local newspaper is nuking folks who cost too much and place a burden on certain benefit plans.

I did find the headline “Google’s $12 Billion Toy” interesting. You can locate a copy of the story in the hard copy and environmentally unfriendly version of the Wall Street Journal in Section B1, pages 1-2. There is an electronic version online at this link. Don’t hassle me if it goes dark like so many traditional publishers’ content.

The main point is not about wire tapping, bribes, or nepotism. Nah, the subject of a real journalistic foray is Google’s purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings. The angle is that Google has a “toy.” Now I used to like toys. Today I am more into gadgets. In fact, calling Motorola Mobility a toy is out of step with what those interested in technology find enthralling. Toy is an object with which children play, an amusement, a trifle, a diminutive thing, etc. My hunch is that by calling Google’s owning Motorola Mobility a toy, the Wall Street Journal was suggesting that Google’s management is childish, immature, and in need of a distraction. The juxtaposition of $12 billion and toy is a stylistic touch that may land the real journalist a gig writing for Jimmy Kimmel or the zany crowd at Saturday Night Live. Comedy writing might be a good back up for real journalists if more layoffs arrive at the big time, real newspapers. With the story’s arrival from a unit of the News Corp., I am just not sure whether the viewpoints about Google’s business acumen are serious or some of that “Google is not our pal” attitude which appears to surface from time to time.

Here’s the passage I noted:

Google’s competitors weren’t as charitable, with one rival executive privately dubbing the undertaking a “hairball.”

Hmm. A hairball. But which competitor?

But I particularly enjoyed this statement:

And that may be the scariest part of all for Google’s investors. The company really believes it can be all things to all people.

My view is that a company which is taking action may not be perfect, but it sure as heck is a more satisfying approach to business than the public removal of senior managers, allegations of bribery and unauthorized listening to voice mail, and the disclosure of alleged secret lunches with government figures.

I feel more comfortable with Google than with some of the antics of real journalists and their owners. Just my opinion from rural Kentucky.

Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2012

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.