Salon.com > eric schmidt

When Google lost its cool

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:45:00 +0000

A strange thing happened on Twitter in the middle of March. "Why I Left Google," a year-old post by a former Google executive named James Whittaker, went viral, for the second time.

A fairly scathing denunciation of how Google's corporate culture had changed for the worse, Whittaker's post got a reasonable amount of notice when it was first published. But this time around, the buzz was louder.

Exactly how the screed was born anew is anyone's guess. The precise mechanics of viral transmission are an enduring mystery. Maybe someone was randomly trolling the Web, stumbled across Whittaker's lament, didn't notice the date was March 13, 2012, instead of March 13, 2013, tweeted it, and hit a nerve. Or perhaps one of Google's competitors saw an opening, and struck a clever blow of Twitter meme warfare.

Why is Google chief Eric Schmidt visiting North Korea?

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 21:38:00 +0000

SEOUL — So, we now know that Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt is heading to North Korea this month.

As with virtually anything surrounding North Korea, the journey has triggered speculation and intrigue.

Google says the trip is a personal humanitarian mission, and won’t comment further. Schmidt will travel with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a seasoned North Korea negotiator, sources have told AP. Presumably Richardon’s negotiation services will yield something other than an umbrella drink at the Pyongyang Four Seasons.

Schmidt has been an advocate for Internet access and freedom, both of which few North Koreans enjoy, although it’s not clear whether he will push this agenda in Pyongyang.

Google CEO to visit North Korea

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:04:00 +0000

Google's executive chairman is preparing to travel to one of the last frontiers of cyberspace: North Korea.

Eric Schmidt will travel to the country on a private, humanitarian mission led by former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson as early as this month.

The trip would be the first by a top executive from US-based Google, the world's largest internet search provider, to a country considered to have the most restrictive internet policies in the world.

North Korea is in the midst of what leader Kim Jong-un called a modern-day industrial revolution in a New Year's Day speech.

He is pushing science and technology as a path to economic development for the impoverished country, aiming for computers in every school and digitised machinery in every factory.

However, giving citizens open access to the internet has not been part of North Korea's strategy. While some North Koreans can access a domestic intranet service, very few have clearance to freely surf the web.

It remains highly unlikely Google will push to launch a business venture in the country, according to Victor Cha, a former senior Asia specialist in the Bush administration.

"Perhaps the most intriguing part of this trip is simply the idea of it," said Cha, an analyst with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies thinktank in Washington. Kim Jong-un "clearly has a penchant for the modern accoutrements of life", he said.

"If Google is the first small step in piercing the information bubble in Pyongyang, it could be a very interesting development."

It was not immediately clear whom Schmidt and Richardson expect to meet in North Korea, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with the US.

North Korea has almost no business with companies in the US, which has banned the import of North Korean-made goods.

Schmidt, however, has been a vocal advocate of providing people around the world with internet access and technology.