back to article Schmidt: Google deathmatch with Apple is 'defining' for the tech biz

Google and Apple are in the "defining fight" of the tech industry today, the advertising firm's chief modestly reckons. Mountain View chairman Eric Schmidt is expecting more than a billion smartphones running Android around the world within a year and he reckons that's gonna tick the fruity firm off even more than it is …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hypocrite

    Quote: "Schmidt said that these patent battles just make him really, really sad."

    ...except when it suits him.

    1. Armando 123

      Re: Hypocrite

      Just what I was thinking. Didn't Googarola try this tack at one time, only to find out old and FRAND patents don't make this lucrative?

      Then again, if Foofle(*) innovated something besides slurping user data for Med Men, they might feel differently.

      (*) - a type, but what the heck, let it stand.

  2. Alan Denman

    Apple's new policy already forming as exterminate and germinate.

    Seems they closed down Authentec for business last month so they can revolutionary bring fingerprint readers to their devices.

    No competition wanted here!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: Apple's new policy already forming as exterminate and germinate.

      Erm, Google themselves have bought many more companies only to assimilate them and shut them down.

      Even Android itself was purchased by Google in 2005.

      Not to mention Microsoft who probably is #1 at doing so.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Apple's new policy already forming as exterminate and germinate.

        Exactly right. Plus it was a phone platform that was pretty ugly and clunky. Google's original prototype was looking like one of those Nokia E61 phones with a small oblong screen with a QWERTY keyboard underneath.

        Seeing what Apple was doing they decided to change course and Android ended up being for touch screen phones with large displays. Although the first phone also had a QWERTY keyboard which slid out from underneath.

        Early versions of the Android browser came with + and - zoom keys to zoom in and out, but then of course they borrowed pinch to zoom from Apple.

        Maybe some say Google will innovate instead of being a company that created cheap knock offs. Android succeeds due to it being widely available for nothing.

        1. John 104

          Re: Apple's new policy already forming as exterminate and germinate.

          @AC

          "but then of course they borrowed pinch to zoom from Apple."

          Sorry to burst your bubble, but this is just another tech that Apple and others have used. It is not new and exclusive to Apple and then copied by the rest of the world.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-touch

  3. ukgnome
    Coffee/keyboard

    "We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in ......drive-by work"

    Time to buy a kevlar vest!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why the exclusive Apple focus?

    Other choice Eric Schmidt opinions from that same interview:

    "Schmidt, speaking during an interview with All Things D's Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at New York's 92nd Street Y, said he isn't ready to include Microsoft in the "gang of four" companies that rule technology.

    "Let's see what this new set of products does," Schmidt said. "There are well-funded, smart, well-run companies that have not been able to bring up state-of-the-art products."

    Maybe someone should ask him about the Nexus Q.

  5. chr0m4t1c
    Facepalm

    Wait, what did he say?

    “Apple should have kept with our maps,” he gloated.

    "I think Apple has learned that maps are hard. We invested hundreds of millions of dollars in satellite work, airplane work, drive-by work, and we think we have the best product in the industry.”

    Sorry, Eric, I don't understand. Is your argument that someone shouldn't bring a new product to market if it's difficult or that new products will always have more flaws than mature ones and so you shouldn't bother?

    I'm a little confused, you see, since there were already lots of search engines available when you launched Google and they had much more data (being more mature) allowing them to give much more comprehensive results.

    I'm pretty sure there were a lot of mobile phones on the market already when you launched Android and I'm fairly sure that mobile phones aren't easy to do either, so do enlighten us as to why you bothered even starting the company.

    I'd be especially interested in your thoughts on how progress happens as well.

    1. Ru
      FAIL

      Re: Wait, what did he say?

      Search engines before Google were generally rubbish. Smartphones before the iPhone were pretty awful too.

      Please contrast that with the state of mobile mapping before the release of Apple's Maps application, where you could find mutiple providers of both decent applications and decent mapping data.

      1. chr0m4t1c

        Re: Wait, what did he say?

        Well, firstly TomTom provides the data behind Apple Maps, so they haven't just started from scratch, and secondly Google Maps was widely criticized as rubbish when it launched, with numerous hilarious routing problems (such as getting from one side of London to the other via Ireland).

        My point is that despite all of that, they still launched Google Maps and ~8 years later we have a pretty good product/service, yet Eric appears to be suggesting that no-one else should bother as it's a mature market.

        If you follow that logic then you would never bother bringing a new product to a mature market, even if the current offerings were a bit crap because you can't always tell that they are until someone comes along with a product that shows you how things should be.

        I seriously doubt this, but it is possible that in two or three years time Apple might be showing Google the way forward in mapping and routing. Of course, that only matters if you're going to be buying an Apple product, which many people here will never do anyway.

        1. Ru

          Re: Wait, what did he say?

          "Google Maps was widely criticized as rubbish when it launched, with numerous hilarious routing problems"

          What were the high quality alternatives that were available at the time?

          "If you follow that logic then you would never bother bringing a new product to a mature market"

          If you're bringing a product into a mature market you're going to have to work hard to convince folk that it is better than the alternatives. Apple aren't offering anything new or different with their service, other than "Its an Apple product!". This is an approach that has served them well in the past, but only when they've brought along a well engineered product, something that does not seem to be the case here.

          Ultimately, the big issue here is not that Apple have brought out something that isn't as good as the competition, its the fact that they removed an existing tool which did a better job, resulting in a worse experience for all their users. Maybe Apple will be showing folk the way forward in a few years. That would be nice, but their customers would like them not to show everyone the way backwards in the meantime.

          1. chr0m4t1c

            Re: Wait, what did he say?

            What were the high quality alternatives that were available at the time?

            <Bangs head against wall>

            Lets see, there was a huge number of paper maps, probably about a dozen portable satnavs (TomTom being the best known), commercial routing software like AutoRoute or the AA one (can't remember what that was called), some cheap ones that often came for free when you bought a PC and online services like StreetView (now defunct).

            If you wanted something for a mobile device you had a choice of mobile applications for PDA or phone from TomTom, Garmin and NavTec as well as crowd-source stuff that was (frankly) pants.

            When Google Maps launched, it offered basic maps of the kind you would find on a low budget satnav, it did not even have a complete set of data, never mind fancy things like satellite view or street view.

            In other words, it was worse than the other offerings at the time, in some cases significantly worse. But it got better.

            Clearly, I'm not getting my argument across, I'm not saying Apple have done the right thing or trying to defend them, I'm not saying that Eric's conclusion that they should have kept GM is wrong per se, I'm saying that his line of reasoning appears to be faulty by implying that they shouldn't bother at all because it's a bit hard and there's already a product on the market.

            Meanwhile, Nokia ships Nokia Maps with most of their phones, it also provides less functionality than GM, but no-one is shouting about that and I'm trying to figure out why we don't have a Saint Eric or Saint Larry icon as for some reason Google seem to be able to do no wrong in these forums.

            1. Ru

              Re: Wait, what did he say?

              <Bangs head against wall>

              Right, so you're listing a whole bunch of things that were terrible free online services, low quality expensive online services or offline services which aren't comparable at all. Good for you. I am aware that satnav devices and non-navigating mapping GPS handsets have existed for some time... again, neither are comparable to an online PC-based mapping service that required no additional hardware or software or expenditure than you'd already got and provided worldwide mapping at a wide range of scales.

              So no, Google Maps did not enter into a mature market full of high quality alternatives.

              "they shouldn't bother at all because it's a bit hard and there's already a product on the market."

              They shouldn't have bothered getting rid of a working system and replacing it with something demonstrably worse. Every other time Apple have entered a product into a new market, it was if nothing else well engineered. Their maps are not; they are a rush job because they messed up either in their own project planning on they failed to see far enough ahead of time that they'd have differences of opinion with Google and need to replace Google Maps before the terms of its use became too onerous for them.

              "Meanwhile, Nokia ships Nokia Maps with most of their phones, it also provides less functionality than GM, but no-one is shouting about that"

              Did Nokia remove a pre-existing mapping tool that was better than Nokia Maps in order to push their own product?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So Google are all nice and friendly now - don't think so. Any company that makes it's money by selling access to your data you should be very wary of. Do you genuinely trust them with your privacy...?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      You have something to hide from the world's eyes have you?

      ""If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place," Eric Schmidt

      http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/schmidt_on_privacy/

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Yes of course he would say Apple should keep with their search, their maps so they can benefit - I believe Apple were paying a LOT of cash (certainly more than hundreds of millions of dollars) for access to Google Maps.

    What people forget is that another maps product will push Google Maps on - the mapping on Apple Maps appears newer, the 3D feature nice and it's a lot faster. Most people agree TomTom make good 'car' GPS units so if they leverage their technology they have the potential to make a (dare I say it) better product.

    People also have the choice - you want Google Maps - well it takes 10 seconds - done.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So let's see we make our money by selling your data to advertisers - perhaps I should get commission from Google?

  9. Alan Denman

    Shareholders say 'Never give a sucker like Google a dime?'

    Apple even have web apps crippled. It is a major reason Facebook has gone the app route on IOS.

    IOS users are surely already being marketed into eventually losing google search.

    There is more shareholder cash being lost there.

  10. The Vociferous Time Waster
    Trollface

    We think there should be more choice...

    We think there should be choice and innovation but we'd like to squash the competitive maps product before it gets more popular than our own.

    Incidentally, if MS had to open up it's browser as part of an EU antitrust thing surely Apple should be made to open up its maps a little more so bing maps and google maps can compete on the platform fairly...

    1. karlp

      Re: We think there should be more choice...

      If your going to fault Apple for something, I don't know that I would start there. Not being able to set default apps as a general topic would be more appropriate, but then I understand where they are coming from by not doing so.

      Maybe google should instead be required to open up (paid, licensed - of course) access to their raw vector data. Particularly seeing as that's why Apple had to leave in the first place.

  11. Mike Bell
    Trollface

    Aggle

    I notice that domain Aggle.com is up for grabs. Maybe Apple should persuade the world that they can do search better than google, even if the maps stuff didn't go to plan.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    By the summer of 2012

    This is the same Eric Schmidt who said “By the summer of 2012, the majority of the televisions you see in stores will have Google TV embedded." isn't it? I'd treat any prediction he made with some skepticism then.

  13. henrydddd
    Linux

    sad

    No matter who wins this patent fight, the loss of choice by smart phone buyers will make the people who want a smart phone the ultimate loser.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple fangirlz out in force tonight...

    Must be that most of the Android nutters are out having relationships and enjoying with friends and 'girlfriends' leaving those lonely Apple 'dudes' to take time out from writing their scripts in Starbucks to comment on here.

    :-) And y'all know I'm right

  15. Ascylto
    Big Brother

    23456

    When Google went public a year ago, it famously said in the papers accompanying its offering that its motto would be “Don’t do evil.”

    So, Eric, What happened?

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Google evil? Don't think so.

    Give one example. Has Google killed anyone? Started any wars where civilians have died? Supported any murderous dictators?

    Google is the enabler of global wealth re-distribution like no other company in human history.

  17. mhenriday
    Boffin

    These patent wars *are* sad - even if it's

    Eric Emerson Schmidt who says so - for the simple reason that they replace the market place, where we users/consumers have a chance (albeit one constantly manipulated by marketeers and advertisers and their backroom deals) to make our views heard and our preferences count with courtrooms in which we have no legal standing at all. And while the Reg's «executive editor» will no doubt choose to differ, the evidence that not only patent wars, but patents themselves are harmful and stifle innovation is very strong ; readers interested in this matter can, for example, perform a search for «The case against patents - St. Louis Fed» and download the Boldrin and Levine paper which tops the list of results. But don't tell AO - one might get black-listed !...

    Henri

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like