What is Google? It is a $50 billion company. That's what it is. --Doug
On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 2:13 PM, Eric Charles <[email protected]> wrote: > Owen, > Based on your analysis, Google is a venture-capital company that likes to > play things close to the chest, and sometimes pretends to be an advertising > agency. Their core stregnth is seeing projects through to deployment, and > so long as individual project's R&D budgets stay in line with the > proportion of projects that succeed, then who needs focus? > > So... Those phones didn't work? Well, we can always try again, because the > majority of consumers have short memories. Or we can drop it and transition > the resources to one of our 815 other projects that seem more promising. > The only way to loose is to commit too much to a project that fails, so > being less committed to follow-through is a form of protection! > > If that is what they are doing, you are right that their business model is > structured screwy. On the other hand, if they were "Google Group LLC" > then they would have to officially close companies when projects fail. > Certainly they would be viewed more negatively if they "closed 7 companies > last year" then if they "ended 7 beta-tests". Never mind that the > beta-tests were 8 years long and had a dedicated staff of 350 people; carry > on, nothing to see here. > > Eric > > -------- > Eric Charles > Assistant Professor of Psychology > Penn State, Altoona > > ------------------------------ > *From: *"Bruce Sherwood" <[email protected]> > *To: *"The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group" <friam@redfish > .com> > *Sent: *Tuesday, February 26, 2013 4:13:44 PM > *Subject: *Re: [FRIAM] Wow. 6 whole days without a Nexus 4 post. > > Nice analysis, Owen. Makes a lot of sense. > > Bruce > > > On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 9:12 AM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Doug: I've been thinking about the google difficulty with managing their >> own hardware. >> >> It occurred to me that its history .. i.e. Apple didn't just invent a >> phone out of the blue, but instead had a long history of small personal >> devices. Their mp3 players. And they eventually evolved into a the iPod, >> a very sophisticated mp3 player plus much more. Then the iPhone. >> >> This is also true for the Palm Treo. Palm had the PDA .. the Palm Pilot >> which had years of evolution and maturity. Only then did they attempt the >> jump to a phone. >> >> In google's case, nada. No hardware history to speak of. So its not >> surprising that they did not succeed. >> >> Also, google as a company lacks the coherence and focus that both apple >> and palm had. They knew their markets and they knew their customers. They >> had considerable experience directly connecting to the customer. Apple >> even went so far as to have stores .. very direct connection with their >> customers. >> >> As much as I love the "google ecology" for mail, docs, search etc .. and >> admire their 2-factor authentication, I don't think of them as a single >> entity .. but a bunch of "loosely coupled, tightly aligned" services. But >> the internet is not a market, its a utility like water. >> >> So a google phone is sorta like a Facebook phone, or a Twitter phone. >> Indeed, because they are both greatly engaged with communication, they >> make more sense to me than a google phone. >> >> Android came out of google's several attempts to gain traction in the >> web/internet world, a "web os". But even there, they really didn't go >> the extra mile. I'd expect Comcast to build a more effective web device .. >> internet is a core competency for them. Google uses the internet and >> has data centers, but they are not in control of the network aspect. >> >> So google has an identity problem. They apparently make their jack on >> advertisement. Would you expect an advertisement agency to build a good >> phone? >> >> Where I think google does have identity is in the browser. Chrome is >> abs fab, must have, and way ahead of the pack. V8 redefined javascript. >> So they do own their destiny there, although unfortunately for them, >> chrome is not pre-installed on mac and windows. No problem for us but >> quite an issue for others. >> >> Google really should be called Google Group, LLC with several separate >> competency centers that go whole hog after single, focused markets. G+ is >> a winner, but they need to treat it like Facebook, not part of google. >> Android is an OS. Sun found out selling OSs doesn't work. And worse, >> android, in the phone market, is split between the Unholy Trinity of >> carrier, handset provider, and google as OS. >> >> So either google catches up with history, slowly, as done by apple and >> palm .. and plans for that type of evolutionary progress, or google will >> distract itself into other ventures like "big media" and even "banking" >> like google wallet. >> >> Here's a question that focuses: which industry would google do best to >> acquire dominance? Should they buy Verizon or Comcast to own the >> internet they so well understand .. google fiber to the home? Should >> they buy Disney or CBS or MSNBC or Sony to become a media giant? Should >> they buy Amazon to become e-commerce giants? Should they buy AWS to own >> internet IT? Amazon is actually a great example .. I really do "get" >> Amazon and understand their evolution. Kindle, sure obvious. AWS, sure >> why not outsource IT if your already the best? Cloud music? Sure, already >> sell it so make it a "library in the sky". >> >> Google refuses both history and evolution and focus. They say they're >> and advertisement company. Would you buy a phone from an advertisement >> company? >> >> Until coherence, no success. >> >> -- Owen >> >> On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 10:39 AM, Douglas Roberts >> <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> There, fixed that. >>> >>> http://things-linux.blogspot.com/2013/02/96-days-and-counting.html >>> >>> -- >>> *Doug Roberts >>> [email protected]* >>> *http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins*<http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> >>> * <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> >>> 505-455-7333 - Office >>> 505-672-8213 - Mobile* >>> >>> ============================================================ >>> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >>> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >>> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >>> >> >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > -- *Doug Roberts [email protected]* *http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins*<http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> * <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> 505-455-7333 - Office 505-672-8213 - Mobile*
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