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50, 100 years from now, Larry Page (if he's even dead yet) will be remembered as one of the more impactful people in human history.
by simplemath 12y ago
50, 100 years from now, Larry Page (if he's even dead yet) will be remembered as one of the more impactful people in human history.
- keeptrying 12y agoHe won't unless he builds libraries and other public institutions. You need to build things with your name on it in big letters for people to remember you. Larry has not as of yet done this in a big way at least not given his present net worth.
- oh_sigh 12y agoJust like Socrates
- massappeal 12y agoor Einstein
- whoismua 12y agoWhy specifically? History is long, think of Einstein, the person that invented the penicillin, vaccines, the transistor.... Search engines existed before Page, granted not as good but they existed. Google rode the internet explosion, whereas Jobs and (drumroll...) Gates brought a computer in every home. What he will be remembered is for tainting the Google brand. It was golden, now in many circles they see them as biased, full of ads https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7600532 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7600532 , deceiving consumers and a behemoth deserving to be taken down. Downhill has started
- simplemath 12y agoHonestly, I think widespread automated cars will be enough (And I am going to go out on a limb and say that Google technology will be in a huge number of automobiles 25 years from today), but if G has its way, and GFiber transforms ISP/Content delivery, their energy initiatives with windblimp turbines, deep machine learning for medicine, actual robotic assistants, G Books... The list goes on and on. Search is just the cash engine for the truly transformative tech. There has rarely been an industrial force with the ambition Page gives to Google. If they succeed in even half measures on some of these initiatives, it will be transformative.
- whoismua 12y agoAnd I am going to go out on a limb... Everything you said is in early stages or very limited markets. Sure Google has bought a lot of things and rushes to do press releases but what can be bought in the store right now? GFiber in a few cities? That's all. Search is just the cash engine for the truly transformative tech. Got any numbers on ho much Google spent on "transformative tech"? It looks peanuts to me, everything they spend real money and resources on seems to be linked to getting users click those ads.
- simplemath 12y agoEdit: Do you seriously think that GFiber isn't going to be a major player nationally? Or that automated cars will never see market? On the second part I think we're a lot closer than you might imagine: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/09/autonomous_vehicle_regulations_washington_d_c_s_dmv_prepares_for_self_driving.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/04/09/autonomou... As for R&D spending: http://ycharts.com/companies/GOOG/r_and_d_expense http://ycharts.com/companies/GOOG/r_and_d_expense Over 2.1b quarterly. Not exactly peanuts.
- whoismua 12y agoFiber, NO! Google will discontinue it soon, they just want to force AT&t and others to offer higher speeds. It cost a fortune and even if they get their money back, it messes up their margins. Everyone and their mom has a self-driving car prototype. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_car#2010s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_car#2010s I guess Microsoft is "beating" Google with $2.74 Billion a year. http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/r_and_d_expense http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/r_and_d_expense I think that R&D is too wide of an entry, a breakdown would be useful.
- hershel 12y agoself driving cars will probably be a "winner takes most" market. Google has a chance.
- Aloha 12y agoI'd argue he'll be viewed as a Henry Ford like figure - Important, but flawed.
- hershel 12y agoWhy flawed?
- drblast 12y agoOh stop being so cynical. I'd bet money that Larry Page will become at least as widespread a household name as William Durant or Charles Flint.
- DonGateley 12y agoWhether or not he is remembered for it, except for Tim Berners Lee no one else holds a candle to him in that regard. I had enough years "before" that the years "after" and what his work effected delineates it as the most profoundly disruptive period in history by a wide margin. It has become a sixth sense, so integrated with our cognition that we scarcely notice it. And he wants to take that integration much, much further. From what the article discloses about his personality I don't much like him but will never deny his inestimable impact.