Eric Schmidt: 'Gang of four' rules tech

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RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.--Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said a "gang of four" rules technology today: Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook.

The four companies are "exploiting platform strategies" to create enormous value both for consumers and shareholders, he said here today at the D9 conference.

In addition to offering services that are unavailable otherwise (Amazon, for example: everything you want to buy in one place), each platform, Schmidt says, is a platform that other companies are building additional value on top of. He cites the combined value of these four companies--more than half a trillion dollars, he says--as unprecedented in the history of tech. Also unprecedented is the fact that there are four companies in such powerful and controlling positions.

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Schmidt does not expect to see consolidation of these four companies, nor is he convinced these four companies will stay in power for an extended period. It's more likely that one will falter and an upstart fill in for it. Or perhaps a company not in the top four will rise to power.

Like Microsoft, perhaps?

No, Schmidt posits that the fifth and sixth companies in his list are perhaps PayPal and Twitter. Microsoft, he says, is an enterprise company, not a driver of consumer products (Xbox notwithstanding).

Furthermore, Schmidt implies that a shakeup among that gang of four could come quickly. "It's axiomatic," he says, noting that the time a company has at the top of the heap on the Internet keeps getting shorter.

Google, he says, tries to keep ahead of the inevitable slow-down in his own company's innovation by building (and buying) completely new products--he says adding display advertising to Google's revenue stream was a completely new business that added billions of dollars of income to the company. The standard tech company curve, he says, is this: two guys start a company, go public, get rich, and the company "asymptotically" becomes boring and middle aged. Product innovation is absolutely required to avoid this.

Music is fundamental to Google's continued growth, Schmidt adds. In this field Google is trying to not just unseat Apple, but challenge the music industry to innovate when it comes to license agreements. Cloud-based consumer music licenses would add value to end-users and by extension to consumers, Schmidt says. "We are attempting to convince the music industry to support cloud-based terms, and just have not been successful at it."

Source: Eric Schmidt: 'Gang of four' rules tech | Rafe's Radar - CNET News
 
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Former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, has recommended that people use Macs to stay secure.

Speaking at All Things Digital on Tuesday, Schmidt made a number of remarks against Microsoft. Microsoft is “not driving the consumer revolution,” he said, referring to the company’s Xbox business. He says Xbox is “not a platform at the computational level.”

Schmidt recommended that people use Google’s Chrome browser for security.“You could also use a Mac instead of a PC,” he added. “The viruses that are present on the PC are not likely to affect you as much on the Mac”. Schmidt’s comments came at shortly after Apple issued s security update on Tuesday to address an increasingly wild MacDefender malware threat.

Schmidt also spoke briefly about partnering with Facebook. “We’ve tried very hard to partner with Facebook,” he said. “Traditionally, they’ve done deals with Microsoft.” The Google chairman also excluded Microsoft from his top four companies providing the major consumer technology platforms. He chose to highlight Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. “Each of them is a consumer brand that provides something that you can’t do otherwise,” he said. “What’s different now is that these are global companies with reach and economics that ten years ago or 20 years ago one company had.”

Eric Schmidt’s D9 video highlights are available below, Todd Bishop at GeekWire has a good overview of Schmidt’s comments too.

Former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, has recommended that people use Macs to stay secure.

Speaking at All Things Digital on Tuesday, Schmidt made a number of remarks against Microsoft. Microsoft is “not driving the consumer revolution,” he said, referring to the company’s Xbox business. He says Xbox is “not a platform at the computational level.”

Schmidt recommended that people use Google’s Chrome browser for security.“You could also use a Mac instead of a PC,” he added. “The viruses that are present on the PC are not likely to affect you as much on the Mac”. Schmidt’s comments came at shortly after Apple issued s security update on Tuesday to address an increasingly wild MacDefender malware threat.

Schmidt also spoke briefly about partnering with Facebook. “We’ve tried very hard to partner with Facebook,” he said. “Traditionally, they’ve done deals with Microsoft.” The Google chairman also excluded Microsoft from his top four companies providing the major consumer technology platforms. He chose to highlight Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. “Each of them is a consumer brand that provides something that you can’t do otherwise,” he said. “What’s different now is that these are global companies with reach and economics that ten years ago or 20 years ago one company had.”

Eric Schmidt’s D9 video highlights are available below, Todd Bishop at GeekWire has a good overview of Schmidt’s comments too.

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