Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google's Head of Research — We Don't Do Hardware

Posted by Zonk on from the to-the-gmobile dept.

mr_sifter writes "In a recent, wide-ranging interview Google's Head of Research, Dr Peter Norvig, revealed the firm has no interest in developing its own hardware. (Except a phone, apparently.) Said Norvig, 'We want to work everywhere and be neutral. That neutrality is important.' Interestingly, Norvig is tough on where the company's priorities are at the moment, saying: 'I think there could be much better tools, we're [Google] still kind of isolated in what we do. You give us a question and we give you an answer ... We're really focused on either the five second-type question ... We don't really support the five month or the five year queries, the project or life-long goal.' He also talks about the importance of adding a narrative to search, mobile technology, and how Google's strong financials mean the company can run research in an unusual way."

4 of 94 comments (clear)

  1. Re:They ought to... by jay-be-em · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not sure it would be worth Google's time and money to create the
    infrastructure necessary to start producing chips for themselves. Why
    not just give a requirement list to some already established
    manufacturer? I'm sure they'd be happy to have a guaranteed massive
    contract for years to come.

    --
    "Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
  2. Re:Apart from the cellphone and the Mini... by chris_mahan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In the same vein, Apple doesn't make the iPhone. They contract that out to a company in PRC that does it for them.

    --

    "Piter, too, is dead."

  3. Don't believe this by suv4x4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They said they won't do email, chat, financial information, spreadsheets or horoscopes (making fun of Yahoo and Microsoft).

    And short of horoscopes, they now do all of this.

  4. Re:I remember another company once said this... by bobcat7677 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Microsoft WIRED Mice and Keyboards are pretty good. My first mouse was a Microsoft mouse and it lasted for a LONG time. Their wireless gear on the other hand sucks monkey ass. I have yet to touch a wireless microsoft mouse that didn't suffer from interference problems or render my system completely unusable (including locking up the wired keyboard) when the batteries got the slightest bit low. The one I bought for myself sits in a box even though it has the best resolution of all my mice. The conference room machine here at work is mostly useless because of the one attached to it. A friend has a wireless microsoft keyboard and has all sorts of issues with it too.