Update from the CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: Update from the CEO

#51

Post by Zigurd » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:51 PM UTC

damniatx wrote: post #22

Chrome OS and Android merger please?

I really don't understand the attraction of "making the one thing."

Chrome/ChromeOS and Android are very different. Neither is going to supplant the other.

They also have some clashing goals: Chrome wants to be more security paranoid than Android. In theory Google can find Android malware authors, cut them off from access to Google Play, and kill bad apps in the field, while Chrome is exposed to both malevolent and hacked Web sites.

I see harmonization as more of a product management activity than any particular technical choice.

Re: Update from the CEO

#52

Post by SoftwareMaven » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:51 PM UTC

recuter wrote: post #40

outside1234 wrote: post #10

I suspect that Andy is not in fact staying on at Google but instead this is a golden parachute in which he will pretend to stick around as "a consultant to the CEO" before leaving.

I never really understood this sort of thing. Why would he stick around and do nothing? To "save face"? And if he is not being useful why do they want him around or play along?

They stick around because they have a lot of options that are on some sort of cliff-vesting schedule.

Re: Update from the CEO

#53

Post by charlieok » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:51 PM UTC

“We’re getting closer to a world where technology takes care of the hard work—discovery, organization, communication—so that you can get on with what makes you happiest… living and loving.”

Just lie back and let yourself sink into the goo. Don't worry about all that messy technology behind the curtains. We've got that taken care of. Have a nice day :)

Re: Update from the CEO

#54

Post by wmf » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:51 PM UTC

snowwrestler wrote: post #42

outside1234 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could be. Would be a great pick to drive Glass. Or build robots.

Seems to me that if he were moving to head another high-profile project at Google, it would have been part of this announcement.

Maybe he's leading a high-profile project that hasn't been announced yet.

Re: Update from the CEO

#55

Post by mtgx » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:52 PM UTC

recoiledsnake wrote: post #11

Since Sundar Pichai is the head of ChromeOS, perhaps this move is part of a larger move to unify Android and ChromeOS.

But what does that mean exactly?

Re: Update from the CEO

#56

Post by dragonwriter » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:52 PM UTC

hugoc wrote: post #19

recoiledsnake wrote: post #11

Since Sundar Pichai is the head of ChromeOS, perhaps this move is part of a larger move to unify Android and ChromeOS.

How would that work? What would it be like? Android is powered by native apps, Chrome by cloud apps. Chrome already runs on Android. They have different approaches and I don't see how they how they could form a coherent whole or how one would benefit from a merger with the other. :/

> How would that work?

Move Native Client for ARM into Chrome on Android (or, wait until PNaCl is ready, and move that into Chrome for Android).

Focus effort on exposing functionality currently available to native Android apps through web APIs in Chrome to make Chrome apps (using NaCl/PNaCl where that kind of performance is needed), rather than Dalvik ones, the preferred mechanism for delivering apps on Android.

At that point, Android and ChromeOS are pretty much the same thing.

Re: Update from the CEO

#57

Post by wmf » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:52 PM UTC

sdfjkl wrote: post #38

Better title "Andy Rubin hands Android team to former Chrome lead, stays at Google".

Maybe Google should hire some SEO consultants.

Re: Update from the CEO

#58

Post by mmanfrin » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:53 PM UTC

I remember the week or so when both Sinofsy and Forstall were let go, people jokingly said 'these come in threes, look out for Rubin'.

Turns out that was true.

Re: Update from the CEO

#59

Post by SoftwareMaven » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:53 PM UTC

pinaceae wrote: post #50

Observation by Benedict Evans: almost all key divisional leads at Google were born in India. Android, Engineering, Advertising, Youtube… Polar opposite to Apple, which is a white boys club.

It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Apple's 20 years older than Google, Apple has had really good retention, and the make-up of the Valley has changed dramatically in that 20 years? The implied racial dig is beneath HN.

EDIT: Another thought: Google has also done a huge amount of its growth through acquisitions, whereas Apple has done very few. That likely further pushes Apple's leadership to "old-school" people in the Valley: they haven't brought in large numbers of executives of smaller companies that effectively start at the middle-top in Google.

Re: Update from the CEO

#60

Post by cek » Wed, Mar 13, 2013, 5:55 PM UTC

> But his insight immediately struck a chord because at the time it was extremely painful developing services for mobile devices. We had a closet full of more than 100 phones and were building our software pretty much device by device. It was nearly impossible for us to make truly great mobile experiences.

This is highly ironic statement given that one of the biggest pain developers trying to build mobile experiences face today is the number of devices they have to test on, and that Android plays no small part in making it worse.

The drawer/closet you have, full of all those test devices? it's called the "Drawer of broken dreams."