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ultimate humbling experience. My interactions with Steve were always like that. He was always ahead of me.” In 2009, Schmidt resigned from the board of directors at Apple due to a conflict of interest arising from growing competition between Google and the firm. However, his regard for Jobs has always remained the same. Schmidt says: “He had a level of perception about feelings and emotions that was far beyond anything I’ve met in my entire life. His legacy will last for many years.” In 2011 Schmidt made way for Larry Page as CEO, tweeting on the day of his removal that, “day-today adult supervision is no longer needed” citing “friction at the top,” along with remarks that Larry Page was finally “ready” to be CEO. Despite this, Schmidt remains executive chairman at Google. On a recent trip to New Delhi in India, his first since he joined the company, Schmidt addressed the growth issues of the internet in the country which remains stunted despite having the world’s third largest number of internet users. The country’s failure to invest in high-speed telecom networks and a complacency in making the internet more widely available to a population of 1.2 billion have contributed to a stalled progress. Sensing a gap in the market, Google’s plans for the country incorporate a high-quality language transfer from all 26 Indian languages to make information more easily accessible to what is currently a restricted audience.
“Google’s aspiration is to be your assistant, to know what you don’t know”
Was there a moment or two in the last 10 to 11 years when you thought search could change the world in a way you never thought before? I don’t think I fully understood how powerful the internet was until I began to see the use of Google in popular media. YouTube was a partner in the 2008 elections with CNN and when I went to this debate, I was really surprised by the arrival of technology in the
Some industries think Google’s intention is to be the master… Google defines its mission as a ranker-organiser and not a judge. We don’t want to restrict information. We want to give more choice.
mainstream. Today, we take it for granted. Google’s aspiration is to be your assistant, to know what you don’t know and to get that information to you as fast as possible and I think that is very powerful. You sat on the Apple board for some years. What was so distinct about it? There was no better product visionary in the world than Steve Jobs, in the choice of the unification of user experience, power, colour and style. He had a unique ability to build and run things, while understanding the technology and adding an unconventional design. Today when you look at the product you see Steve, you look at the storage you see Steve, you look at the brand you see Steve. That was his genius – he was certainly not a perfect man, but a great one. There are people you meet in life who are bigger and better than anyone else and he was exactly that. I think his impact on society and the world will be historical.
How is social media changing search? If Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest are not in Google search, how will it affect Google? There is no monopoly on this kind