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Google CEO Joins Apple Board of Directors

reno said:
this is one of those news items that will probably slip under the radar, but it actually could be quite significant in the long term. to me, it means more potential collaboration and joint ventures between Google and Apple. I see it as two entities that have become significant powers in the tech industry joining up to better technology overall and to also join the battle against the evil Micro$oft empire. i think we will see some good out of this.
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While I don't see this as a formal "partnership" between the companies, I do see this as a step in the right direction. Perhaps more Google apps will be pushed in the Mac OS direction (I'm looking at you, Picasa!). I hope that .Mac gets a price cut (possibly back to free?) and gets Apple-skinned versions of the Google web apps. Google has a lot of interesting ideas floating around, but not many of them have the polish of an Apple app.

Google video search would, and should stay a separate system, but their public offerings might be integrated into the iTunes storefront (like Podcasts and Audiobooks are, with a separate set of pages from the Music Store itself). I don't anticipate Writely being built into Pages or Google Spreadsheets becoming the long-rumored 'Numbers'. Google Page Creator might not be such a bad addition to iWeb/.Mac if it got a facelift.

Overall, I can only see this move benefitting both Apple and Google. When Steve Jobs joins the Google Board, then we'll know something big is cooking. Right now, however, the future is a little fuzzy. Bright, but fuzzy nonetheless.
 
Hopefully he is not another Bill Campbell

When Bill Campbell joined the Apple Board, people thought Intuit products for Mac will improve, but so far, Quicken support on Mac trails Windows support. Hopefully Eric does a better job.

Also, I wonder what the environmentalist Gore thinks about Green Peace's bad rating of Apple.
 
This is nice I suppose, but before we get too excited about it, just ask yourself what good it's done to have Bill Campbell on board all these years. He's the only member of the board I have ever voted my shares against reappointment.

Edit: beat me to it by seconds!
 
reyesmac said:
As long as they don't start putting advertisements in ANY of their applications or os, I will be ok with this. Integrating internet searches into spotlight and maps in to address book should not be too far off. Here is a list of what I think they can and should do with this kind of close relationship with Google.

Maps in addressbook
Internet searches in spotlight
A new revamped sherlock with mostly googleish searches
tv listings and showtimes in front row
watch google video in front row
global google image search
(search for downloadable images inside photoshop)
mac compatible versions of ALL google features/apps
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I think you are closest here with the integration of Google services in OSX... be it maps, images etc. Puts Google on the desktop
 
As long as Apple quality doesn't degrade because of this, which I have no idea why it would at this point, then this is an interesting non-issue to me.

It'd be interesting to see someone do a 6-dgrees of separation with the Apple board members. I wonder who I'm attached to? :)
 
I'd appreciate it if someone more versed in business (especially US business) than I could answer this question.

Clearly Dr Schmidt is a worthy and successful businessman, but what are the advantages of him being on the board? He's going to be privy to privileged information about Apple which could (not suggesting would, I should note) potentially give Google a competitive advantage in key marketplaces. As Google's CEO, Schmidt is surely not going to help in any plans Apple might have to usurp existing Google products.

Perhaps this will indeed lead to partnerships etc, but giving the Google CEO a place on the board does not necessarily mean this, and his absence from the board certainly doesn't preclude this.

Is this simply a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer? What practical gains does Apple have to gain by doing this?
 
BenRoethig said:
Anyone else see this as bringing a potentential successor should steve retire?
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That was what I first thought too, although this will potentially bring improvements to Spotlight and .mac, and other web-integrated apps (Dashboard included?), and as someone said, the maps in Address Book and stuff like that. Hopefully Safari, Mail and iCal will benefit from this, although perhaps Dr Schmidt won't get as much influence, or be as fervently interested in Googlising OS X, as we hope.
 
BenRoethig said:
Anyone else see this as bringing a potentential successor should steve retire?
Click to expand...

I was thinking of this, I'm not sure how I feel about it, I'd prefer some one like Jonathan Ives, but who knows! All we can do is wait. I see Jobs being around for a least 10 more years or so.
 
non-news to me except that google is good (for all reasons i knew before):

1-Unlike Yahoo, Google is willing to keep details of user's searches private from Government's prying eyes.

2- Google Earth is mac friendly

3- yahoo Music stinks as it does NOT support macs. they wont allow music video's to be watched on macs. kinda lameass as there are multiple flash players.

4- the owners of google are building a plane with party rooms and bedrooms for fun. Sounds like they want to enjoy the money they earned. he whatever floats their boats, except if they were annoying on a basketball court like the ***** Mark Cuban
 
mdntcallr said:
non-news to me except that google is good (for all reasons i knew before):

1-Unlike Yahoo, Google is willing to keep details of user's searches private from Government's prying eyes.

2- Google Earth is mac friendly

3- yahoo Music stinks as it does NOT support macs. they wont allow music video's to be watched on macs. kinda lameass as there are multiple flash players.

4- the owners of google are building a plane with party rooms and bedrooms for fun. Sounds like they want to enjoy the money they earned. he whatever floats their boats, except if they were annoying on a basketball court like the ***** Mark Cuban
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yeah, i agree about the whole mark cuban thing. i can't stand him
 
thequicksilver said:
Is this simply a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies even closer? What practical gains does Apple have to gain by doing this?
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Sounds like a classic case of "My enemy's enemy is my friend"...

I wonder what he's getting paid?
I'm always sceptical that these appointments are just part of the "old-boy network"...
 
A few people said this earlier in the thread. They said that it would reduce competition to Apple and that is good. No, not at all people: That is not good. In fact, that's how you stagnate and become less innovative. The more competition the better and cheaper goods and services can be bought.
 
Depends

Badandy said:
A few people said this earlier in the thread. They said that it would reduce competition to Apple and that is good. No, not at all people: That is not good. In fact, that's how you stagnate and become less innovative. The more competition the better and cheaper goods and services can be bought.
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I think what they meant was less competition between Google and Apple; which is a good thing since both companies have a vested interest in competing against Microsoft. Too much competition in the same space can stifle innovation because everyone is basically making the same widget and are afraid to innovate because of risk. I think everyone here is basically thinking the same thing: a partnership between Apple and Google complements both companies.
 
Safari, .Mac

Well, I guess Google search will remain a fixture in Safari (as opposed to being replaced with Yahoo as was once rumored). But don't hold your breath about Schmidt having an influence on .Mac. Fortunately, market forces probably will have an influence on .Mac, which is overpriced and underpowered. .Mac should be included with iLife.
 
Patch^ said:
I was thinking of this, I'm not sure how I feel about it, I'd prefer some one like Jonathan Ives, but who knows! All we can do is wait. I see Jobs being around for a least 10 more years or so.
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Ives is a great designer, but can he run a company? A good manager doesn't need to know how the pieces work, he/she needs to know how they fit.
 
I predict Google and Apple announce merger plans in the near future.

What's the name name of the newly merged company you ask?

Goople.

:D
 
WildCowboy said:
And that's different from normal how?
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Zing! :D

(In reality though, having a CEO on the board is not at all like a commercial alliance with that company -- so Ballmer probably isn't any more freaked out than usual.)
 
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