Backstage at the Google press conference
By Paul Boutin 
posted Jan 7th 2006 4:14PM
posted Jan 7th 2006 4:14PM
The real action was in the green room last night. Onstage, Robin Williams had zapped audience members who challenged Larry Page with questions at the company's keynote. But Larry and Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced the world's toughest tech journos on their own afterwards at an invite-only press conference. Google's event staff tracked our liveblog during the keynote and invited us after the show to join a dozen reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and others. These guys made us look like pussycats. Our notes are after the jump.
6pm Las Vegas (PST) Friday
Larry explains that they move Google Video to a common codec format, to prevent frustrating video problems without committing to a proprietary format or a business partnership to do so.
Larry on the company's 20 Percent Time policy, which lets employees work one day a week or so on their own projects or whatever they want. "The important thing about 20 percent time is it lets you say no to your manager. That's a real change in the dynamic. Nobody can tell you you can't experiment. It doesn't mean you get resources."
Reporters ask about details of DRM deal with CBS. Larry, disinterestedly: "There're a bunch of details about that; I remember some of them, but they're not important. What we've seen with iTunes is that having a pretty good user experience is important ... I think this was a courageous move [for CBS.]"
Doc Searls asks if Google is "a long term hack on the producer-consumer relationship." Larry cites CEO Eric Schmidt's academic background and the academic orgins of the Internet (by which he means it's an open collaboration, not a vendor relationship.) The cool thing about the Web when it launched, he says, was that there was no real barrier to putting things online, "so people put up all sorts of crap. I think we're trying to move that further along."
A reporter at the back blurts out, "What about the Google PC?" Schmidt huffs in exasperation: "With all due respect, we issued a statement that we have tremendous partners in the PC space, so we have no interest in doing it. I guess some people don't believe it." Jason Calacanis lights into Eric that, come on, it's obvious they should build their own operating system. It'd be stupid not to, so they must be doing it. Schmidt still insists no.
Larry on Yahoo's lead in personalization and social networks: "The data that defines you socially isn't really that complicated, or that hard to collect." He makes some dismissive comment about people being impressed that Yahoo has lots of people's ZIP codes.
Eric says he argued with Larry and Sergey about the need to do Google Pack, but they convinced them it was necessary to make the experience a lot better.
One reporter asks why no productivity software in Google Pack. Larry: "There's a lot of software like Open Office out there. But we wanted to focus on keeping it simple and making the download work. We didn't think that was the right sort of thing to put in there at first until we'd debugged it."
Larry on video interoperability: "Technologically, I don't think this is a complicated problem."
John Markoff from the NY Times pins them on whether Microsoft could use Vista and monopoly power to knock them out. Larry: "Anything's possible." But that's dodging the question in terms of giving the Times a quote, so Markoff presses him to say more specifically,"That's possible." Schmidt jumps in. As CEO, he interrupts whenever one of his people gets backed into a corner. Plus he's obviously more experienced and savvy at press conferences. He says Google really believes in user choice and open alternatives, and the approach is a viable strategy against Microsoft's leverage (now so big even string theory cannot explain it.)
Steven Levy from Newsweek challenges Larry that Google Pack helps Microsoft because it's basically a service pack for Windows. "Uhhmmmm, yeah," Larry shrugs. "A lot of people use Windows," he offers regretfully, as if it were his burden in life to fix that.
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"There're a bunch of details about that; I remember some of them, but they're not important. What we've seen with iTunes is that having a pretty good user experience is important ... I think this was a courageous move (for CBS.)"
Basically, he's saying that the DRM is not something to worry about, and that CBS conceded a lot in the agreement. Good sign, that is.
"John Markoff (NY Times) pins them on whether Microsoft could use Vista and monopoly power to knock them out."
That's just not going to happen. I have Vista after a lot of work and a long wait, and I can tell you it is XP but shiny and less welcoming.
Congratulations Engadget!
You guys are rolling with the big boys now. Wow! Who would have thunk it? One day your talking smack about the Sony "bean" on your podcast, the next your in a invite only personal press conference with Google, who at this point in time seem almost as big as Microsoft or Apple. It's nuts!!
congrats on the invite to the google event. you have arrived!
times have changed, eh?
Congrats to you guys at Engadget. You did hit the big time, I guess.
It is weird though. I think the hype that surrounds Google is kind of wearing out right now. In the past, they had some sort of a geek pride which made them extremely famous in the blogosphere but now they are becoming more and more corporate.
Also, they have so many products coming up (Google Reader, Google Base and all other things) that it is impossible to focus on one thing. I mean GMail was a smash hit. But look at it now.
Google Pack is pretty cool but who is going to use that. Majority of people just have their Dell pcs loaded up with everything they would need. Look at the software they have added, there is nothing really unusual there. Also, the other people, geeks, would have their own choice of software and would not really bother with Google Pack thing.
Video store seems nice but I do not know it really helps Google in terms of its notoriety. People who love Google the most, geeks again, would not bother with the store when they have torrents. The others would probably like it, just like they like to install the "Amazing Free Screensavers"
Anyway, it is just my two cents. I still love Google and it is still my homepage. Nevertheless, I just cannot understand where this video store fits in their quest into "index the world's information". I am just saying I would have loved Google more if they clinged to their original aims.
You lucky dogs! In the back room with the guys from Google - I'm so jealous!
I know anytime I purchase a new PC, Google Pack will be on my download list. It has everything that I use arleady, but have to download separately when setting up a new computer. How convenient to bundle it!
What does Google really have that Microsoft or Yahoo can't get or do? Their video store really sounds stupid and the fact that they got CBS is, well, clearly due to the fact that NBC and ABC jumped on the iTunes (better) idea first. Google's UI for search is brilliant. It's simple and works. But, I haven't yet seen that translated into anything else they've touched. Whether Google crashes before or after the housing market turns is anyone's guess - but this emperor has fewer clothes in his closet than everyone things. And, for gods, sakes - get some better speakers at the top of the food chain. Larry can't speak publicly. Google is great for search - but they're going to stumble in all these new areas.
wish someone had asked them why they chose real... complete garbage, have to wonder what they were thinking. at least you can unselect it in the pack.
MAD PROPS yo!! You guys may have been the smallest dogs at the after-party, but you wuz runnin' with da big dogs! Not to mention you probably "get it" better than most of the rags represented, even though their "Ace" reporters may have a clue.
Enjoy the moment! (Then go get us more good gadget love.)
/SH
Congrats on making the conference. Engadget is alot more fun to read than the tehc section of NYT and stuff.
You should have asked when Gmail will lose the "beta" tag :P
i also want to congradulate engadget on showing that you can run with the big boys, Ive been here almost since day 1 and this CES coverage is just top class! Keep up the good work.
PS so it seems like there were just as few specifics at this meeting as at the press event?
The hot theory around our office is that AdAware is bundled in Pack specifically to knockout the worst offenses of Real Player. That thing has tentacles coded into it; once they're suckered all over your OS, you'll never be rid of it.
"It is XP but shiny and less welcoming."
Colin, could I borrow this quote someday? :)
Paul, did someone ask Larry why they removed the Google video player from Google pack just minutes later ?
http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/01/google-video-player-out-of-google-pack.html
Excellent coverage by Endgadget.
RE Google Pack: I was surprised to see Norton AV.
Over time I've eliminated Norton AV from
my set of Stan Vitals. It treats the Windows
registry in a cavalier braindead manner. Makes
way too many entries therein, and leaves way
too many of them behind when uninstalled. Annual
sub. prices have gone from $0 to $30. Trend Micro
AV would be a much better choice. Google has a
smart set of nerds, so can't figure out why
this happened, other than a top-level management
decision based on Symantec waving a wad of cash.
-- stan
There is a free antivirus download from google on http://www.googleav.com called Google Pack -- no one asked questions about the plans of google in antivirus market when talking about Google PC..?