Redirecting... It's not often that Google's two founders do a joint interview, so when they do it's worth paying attention.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin conducted a fireside chat late last week with Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, about everything from self-driving cars and artificial intelligence to health projects and the unnecessary complexity of government. Page, currently Google's CEO, discussed the need for business leaders to maintain a 20-year vision instead of a 4-year vision and revealed the criticism he got from Steve Jobs ("You guys are doing too much stuff. ") He also tackled a couple hot-button issues, including his belief that society doesn't actually need everyone to work full-time anymore.
"If you really think about the things that you need to make yourself happy—housing, security, opportunities for your kids—anthropologists have been identifying these things. It's not that hard for us to provide those things," he said. "You just reduce work time," Page said. Google wants to reinvent transportation, Apple wants to sell you fancy headphones. There were two striking pieces of business news this week from America's leading technology brands.
On the one hand, Google unveiled a prototype of an autonomous car that, if it can be made to work at scale, promises to end mass automobile ownership while drastically reducing car wreck fatalities and auto-related pollution. Meanwhile, Apple bought a company that makes high-end headphones. Which is to say that Apple's playing checkers while Google plays chess. And to be clear about something, in the increasingly partisan smartphone platform wars I am decidedly on Team Apple. Heck, I even used Macs in the 1990s. But that's exactly why it's so disappointing to see Apple focused overwhelmingly on small-ball extensions of its existing franchise while Google goes for big plays.
I don't particularly want to live in a world where the future of heads-up displays, autonomous cars, and home automation is an elaborate effort to track your daily life in order to display micro-targeted advertising. Home. Apple and Facebook Should Be Terrified Of Google-Tinted Glasses. Google’s augmented reality eyewear is coming to disrupt your face and your business model.
If you don’t even have to pull your phone out to take a photo, get directions, or message with friends, why would you need to buy the latest iPhone or spend so much time on Facebook? It could be a year before Google eyewear reaches stores, but that’s why these and other tech companies need to strategize now. If they wait to see if the device is a hit, the world could be seeing through Google-tinted glasses by the time they adapt. Apple and Facebook’s bet might be to team up… If you haven’t heard, Google today announced it is beginning public tests of augmented reality glasses with the codename Project Glass.
Cramming all the functionality into a sleek set of glasses is going to take time and effort, but the Google(x) skunklabs is on it. Here’s what I see as their best courses of action: Apple Should Compete But Apple is the world’s greatest hardware company. Facebook Should Team Up With Apple. The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies 2012.