Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google's CEO Clears the Air

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the there's-a-lot-of-fog-out-here dept.

prostoalex writes "Google CEO Eric Schmidt sat down with PC Magazine to discuss some of the current issues swirling around Google, such as China and censorship, growth of the video content on the Internet, Microsoft's planned move into online ads, working with AOL and Internet neutrality." From the article: "Schmidt was quick to say that the acquisition of Writely was not meant to create a competitor to Microsoft Office, which he said solves a complicated and important problem of work productivity. Writely is a server-based editing system where you can move your files around, he said, and there are places where a rich text editor is useful in Google."

5 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. I don't agree totally... by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The technology we have is incredibly empowering to citizens," he said. For all the countries we don't like, he suggested we might their change behavior more by giving their citizens PCs, fast connections, and access.

    It doesn't empower citizens of countries that do everything they can to proxy out that information. While I 99% agree with what Google did in China, I don't agree that giving citizens PCs, connections, and access will stop their governments from doing what they do.

    Fuck, the USA is supposedly "free" and "open" and we have quite a bit of the population with access and yet we just let our leaders take FAT SHITS in front of our faces and then smile when they waft the stentch towards us.

  2. Simple Survey by webword · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do you trust Google less today than one year ago?

    Feel free to explain why. My point of the "survey" is that I think people trust Google less now than in the past. It is taking more and more effort for Google to keep the hearts and minds of the world. There is more speculation. There are more conspiracy theories.

    --
    How to Download YouTube Videos
  3. Personal info as target by msbmsb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Also from the article: Schmidt said he saw Writely and other server-based tools as another way to collect and organize the world's data. "All the world's information includes personal information," he noted.

    I was a little surprised to not see anything else in there really about privacy concerns, except that users "need to trust that the information won't be abused by Google or by governments".

  4. Torrents are not illegal. by babbling · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Torrents are not illegal.
    The bittorrent protocol is not illegal.
    The bittorrent method of distribution is not illegal.
    Torrent websites are not illegal.

    The distribution, without permission, of files that fall under current copyright is illegal in most, but not all, places in the world.

    Furthermore, searching for torrents of files that fall under copyright is not illegal. Downloading the torrents themselves might be illegal, I'm not sure. Downloading the copyrighted material itself, without permission, is always illegal. This has nothing to do with it being a torrent.

    I'd say you can safely search for "torrent"...

  5. Disappointment sets in by eSavior · · Score: 4, Insightful
    In a related area, Schmidt said that while the two companies weren't going to offer full interoperability between their instant messaging networks anytime soon, users could expect a single tool that give you access to both Google Talk and AIM in ways similar to how Trillian treats multiple IM networks.
    I really hoped all the interoperability talk meant more than a multiprotocal client. It would have been nice for google to put up a jabber server that would allow the jabber world to instant message AIM users say via @aim.com addresses (I hear Apple's iChat works like that). Oh well, thanks google for adding nothing to the instant messaging landscape that gaim/trillian/etc didn't add years ago.