Eric Schmidt Being A Presidential Advisor

Is it good or bad for those fearing Google power?

[adamxcl]

This doesn't really fit into any normal Google topic so I thought I'd mention it here in Foo. I just watched Schmidt on MSNBC's 1600 Pennsylvania Ave show (formerly Race for the White House) talking about the economy and talking as an advisor to the new President Elect.

I couldn't help think about the impact of the CEO of a company that I rely so heavily upon in my business also having the ear of the President.

This would probably be good for Google in some unknown future way but what other impacts could it have? What's the angle or is there one? Is it as simple as what is good for the economy is probably good for us all and Google?

[phranque]

for one thing it probably means google will be searching for a new ceo soon.
that new ceo would probably have a friendly ear in a powerful post.

[Lord Majestic]

The impact won't be high, he is likely to root for the industry issues rather than specifically Google - if he does something like this he is finished.

[limoshawn]

I may be totally off here but the only reason I see for Schmidt to leave Google is if he is unhappy and is ready to retire and start spending his money. If that’s the case this would be a perfect opportunity for him to go! Sorry guys but the country needs me.... sounds like a great exit strategy!

[Green_Grass]

I read somewhere, that he has refused the offer... he seems to 'love' working at Google..

[BillyS]

And what exactly has Google done under Schmidt that makes him such a visionary? Do they have any service out of Beta besides search?

Google Checkout - Failed
Broadband over Powerline - Failed
WiFi - Failed
Froogle - Failed
Google Orkut - Failed
Google Video - Failed
Google Answers - Failed
GMail - Still in Beta
Google Blog Search - Still in Beta
Google Book Search - Still in Beta
Google Directory - DMOz
Google Finance - Still in Beta
Google Product Search - Still in Beta
Google Scholar - Still in Beta

[Lord Majestic]

And what exactly has Google done under Schmidt that makes him such a visionary?

He got them prepared for IPO and shares did very well overall. Schmidt gave Google corporate look that was necessary to get big funds to buy into it. Maybe Google was so good that any other corporate person would achieve the same, but we will never know.

[BillyS]

>>He got them prepared for IPO and shares did very well overall.

If you were an investor, the IPO was a succes. From a corporate standpoint, it was a flop.

[martinibuster]

He's an advisor to the president elect, but he is not a part of his administration. Schmidt has already closed the door [webmasterworld.com] to that possibility by stating he does not want to work for the government.

Schmidt is not the only CEO advising Obama, Warren Buffet has his ear too, among many others. Meg Whitman, formerly of eBay was a McCain advisor. Nothing unusual.

[zett]

And what exactly has Google done under Schmidt that makes him such a visionary?

Reminds me of one of my all time favorite movies, THE LIFE OF BRIAN.

Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Attendee: Brought peace?
Reg: Oh, peace - shut up!

Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)

[skibum]

Obama is already going to be YouTube branded [news.cnet.com] so why not let Google tell him what to do? Use the technology but use the clout as president to at least keep the YouTube logo out when the video is embedded on sites other than YouTube.

All those Google apps may have "failed" commercially but they all feed tons of data back to the mothership and will contribute to the success of Google and the way it evolves at time goes on.

Good or bad, probably bad.