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Here are some: Gmail AdSense/AdWords Google Scholar Google Maps / Google Earth Google Books Google Image Search Google Apps Google Code Google News Ch

by bkovitz 17y ago

Here are some: Gmail AdSense/AdWords Google Scholar Google Maps / Google Earth Google Books Google Image Search Google Apps Google Code Google News Chrome SketchUp "Innovation" in the strong sense of something super-radically new is not that important, at least to me. Let's not get distracted by that. The reason I like Google is that things they make are well done. They don't have jingly-bobs popping up all over the place and lots of new "features" that actually make things worse. Their stuff has generally started simple and good, and gotten better. I don't find myself resenting using Google's stuff, cursing at the stupid bugs all the time. Their products have lots of nice little touches, like the way Google search will evaluate a mathematical expression or look up the time in a given location, and it searches PDF and PPT files and renders them decently in HTML. Google Groups now searches bulletin boards and discussion lists as well as Usenet groups. Google Maps does a really nice job of finding bus routes in San Francisco. It often just does what you want it to, without your having to ask, and without getting in the way. When using most Microsoft products, I usually have the feeling that some "manager" has decided that there's no money in making things work nicely, but there is money in "shipping it". For example, the auto-numbering bugs that have been in MS-Word more than 10 years now and annoy people every single day.

jhammerb 17y ago
Really? AdSense: Applied Semantics acquisition; AdWords: GoTo/Overture innovated here; Google Earth: Keyhole acquisition; Google Apps: Writely/Zenter acquisitions; SketchUp: @Last Software acquisition.
- deleted 17y ago
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  - cdibona 17y ago
    Let me expand, so that those that would downvote a post like this will have something else to read :-) When we bought Keyhole, we were able to bring a serious amount of datacenter and network resources to the problem of serving tiles, make the consumer client free for use and offer web interfaces to the same. I think that was non-trivial and quite innovative. That Michael Jones and the Keyholers were able to take advantage of that expertise speaks to their remarkable ability as well. (I really like when I get the chance to work with MTJ, he's brilliant) So while the team at keyhole were themselves hugely innovative, the combined work of google + keyhole was amazing, more so than either group could have done on their own. To say that a Google or a microsoft can only be innovative if you only count those people who are hired specifically and only though one mechanism and at one time if seems unrealistic . It doesn't recognize that a company is the combined knowledge of the past work in the space, the employees experience gained at university and previous employers, and through knowledge and employees gained via acquisitions. (this is not to say that all acquisitions work out, either)
    - bkovitz 17y ago
      Really good point. It's really of little interest to me whether Google acquired good things or developed them in-house from the start. What I like about Google is that their stuff is good. Unlike many companies, they are doing good work with their acquisitions.

by bkovitz 17y ago

jhammerb 17y ago

Really? AdSense: Applied Semantics acquisition; AdWords: GoTo/Overture innovated here; Google Earth: Keyhole acquisition; Google Apps: Writely/Zenter acquisitions; SketchUp: @Last Software acquisition.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
- cdibona 17y ago
  Let me expand, so that those that would downvote a post like this will have something else to read :-) When we bought Keyhole, we were able to bring a serious amount of datacenter and network resources to the problem of serving tiles, make the consumer client free for use and offer web interfaces to the same. I think that was non-trivial and quite innovative. That Michael Jones and the Keyholers were able to take advantage of that expertise speaks to their remarkable ability as well. (I really like when I get the chance to work with MTJ, he's brilliant) So while the team at keyhole were themselves hugely innovative, the combined work of google + keyhole was amazing, more so than either group could have done on their own. To say that a Google or a microsoft can only be innovative if you only count those people who are hired specifically and only though one mechanism and at one time if seems unrealistic . It doesn't recognize that a company is the combined knowledge of the past work in the space, the employees experience gained at university and previous employers, and through knowledge and employees gained via acquisitions. (this is not to say that all acquisitions work out, either)
  - bkovitz 17y ago
    Really good point. It's really of little interest to me whether Google acquired good things or developed them in-house from the start. What I like about Google is that their stuff is good. Unlike many companies, they are doing good work with their acquisitions.