28 June 2010 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has reaffirmed his company's aim to be a driving force for good in the world, by explaining how Google's breakthroughs in smartphones and search engines are bringing about a generational shift towards the democratisation of information worldwide.
"Over my lifetime, we are going to go from a small number of people having access to most of the world's information, to virtually everybody in the world having access to virtually all of the world's information," Schmidt told The Guardian.
"That's because of web search, cheap phones and automatic translation. That's a pretty amazing achievement and Google is part of that."
Smartphones were identified as a key focus of advancing the company's agenda, as the Google boss explained the development of Android operating systems and Google-branded phones at the Guardian's Activate Summit.
Despite Gartner rating Android as the world's fourth most popular mobile operating system for the first quarter of 2010 - behind Nokia's Symbian, Research in Motion's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone - Schmidt is hopeful about his company's fortunes in the mobile web sphere, particularly as Google's vast network of data centres means it could potentially handle more traffic than its competitors.
"I believe that the very best engineering is now going on the mobile devices - the hardest problems and the most clever solutions," Schmidt explained.
"You know who the person is and where they are, and you don't get that from a desktop app."
He was also keen to reiterate that Google's prime directive of "do no evil" has been borne out by its withdrawal from China over ethical issues, a move that was welcomed by many in the industry as a call for more governments to open their information to the public. Schmidt also stated that smartphones hold the key to making information readily accessible.
"Hardware manufacturers are being incentivised to make higher volumes of lower-priced mobiles, and prices have fallen dramatically. But a young person now in pretty much any country, if they have a mobile device, can get access to pretty much all the world's information and get it translated into their own language," Schmidt said.
"That's a big news thing - that's equivalent to the arrival of television."
Google boss believes smartphones are key to democratising information
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has reaffirmed his company's aim to be a driving force for good in the world, by explaining how Google's breakthroughs in smartphones and search engines are bringing about a generational shift towards the democratisation of information worldwide."Over my lifetime, we are going to go from a small number of people having access to most of the world's information, to virtually everybody in the world having access to virtually all of the world's information," Schmidt told The Guardian.
"That's because of web search, cheap phones and automatic translation. That's a pretty amazing achievement and Google is part of that."
Smartphones were identified as a key focus of advancing the company's agenda, as the Google boss explained the development of Android operating systems and Google-branded phones at the Guardian's Activate Summit.
Despite Gartner rating Android as the world's fourth most popular mobile operating system for the first quarter of 2010 - behind Nokia's Symbian, Research in Motion's Blackberry and Apple's iPhone - Schmidt is hopeful about his company's fortunes in the mobile web sphere, particularly as Google's vast network of data centres means it could potentially handle more traffic than its competitors.
"I believe that the very best engineering is now going on the mobile devices - the hardest problems and the most clever solutions," Schmidt explained.
"You know who the person is and where they are, and you don't get that from a desktop app."
He was also keen to reiterate that Google's prime directive of "do no evil" has been borne out by its withdrawal from China over ethical issues, a move that was welcomed by many in the industry as a call for more governments to open their information to the public. Schmidt also stated that smartphones hold the key to making information readily accessible.
"Hardware manufacturers are being incentivised to make higher volumes of lower-priced mobiles, and prices have fallen dramatically. But a young person now in pretty much any country, if they have a mobile device, can get access to pretty much all the world's information and get it translated into their own language," Schmidt said.
"That's a big news thing - that's equivalent to the arrival of television."
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