{"id":35314,"date":"2023-10-20T14:37:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/best-of-the-web-a-google-master-class-a-mission-to-mars-and-its-not-the-maths-stupid-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:37:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:37:48","slug":"best-of-the-web-a-google-master-class-a-mission-to-mars-and-its-not-the-maths-stupid-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/best-of-the-web-a-google-master-class-a-mission-to-mars-and-its-not-the-maths-stupid-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"BEST OF THE WEB: A Google master class; a mission to mars; and it\u2019s not the maths stupid – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
Google needs to be understood, writes Steven Levy on Medium<\/i><\/a>, as part of a \u201cmaster class\u201d he is doing on Google.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cGoogle isn\u2019t the biggest corporation on Earth, but is arguably the most important. Certainly, if one is to understand the 21st Century and the impact of technology and the Internet on our personal, professional and civic lives, Google is the single company that must be understood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While we are all likely to know the basics of how Google came to be, Levy argues that \u201cexpert knowledge is a little harder to come by,\u201d so he sets up a chat with executive chair Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg, an adviser to current CEO Larry Page.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Q&A between them becomes a fascinating insight into who pulls the strings at Google (I won\u2019t say who, but do have a read), and how they come to make some big decisions. Levy is certainly unrelenting in his line of inquiry.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Levy\u2019s first master class session deals with \u201cChina, the Troika that once ruled Google but may not anymore, and the famous \u2018Don\u2019t Be Evil\u2019 motto.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n We learn that Schmidt is quite comfortable with Google\u2019s decision to enter China, where it censored search results, believing that China was better with Google than without it. But the real revelations come around their decision to leave China.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s fair to say that we had a process to go in, and we had a process to go out. Everybody agreed, and we knew what we were getting ourselves into. It\u2019s not like we were blindsided,\u201d says Schmidt.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe situation did worsen. And then [after Google was hacked] there was the meeting on Sunday [January 10, 2010, when Google decided its future course in China]. I knew when I entered that meeting that we were going pull out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The mission to Mars<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cFuck Earth!\u2019 Elon Musk said to me, laughing. \u2018Who cares about Earth?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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