Google executive chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt recently sat down with the Wall Street Journal to discuss all manner of things relating to to Google, its competition, its products and its future.
Topics of discussion included Apple, Android, the ongoing patent wars and other legal troubles, Google Play and Google Fiber.
Rather than paraphrase the entire interview, we've got a few half-dozen quick hits on some key areas after the break.
- On Google's relationship with Apple: "The adult way to run a business is to run it more like a country. They have disputes, yet they've actually been able to have huge trade with each other. They're not sending bombs at each other."
- On the patent wars: "Apple and Google are well aware of the legal strategies of each other." [...] "It's extremely curious that Apple has chosen to sue Google's partners and not Google itself."
- On innovation: "Google is doing fine. Apple is doing fine. Let me tell you the loser here. There's a young Andy Rubin trying to form a new version of Danger. How is he or she going to be able to get the patent coverage necessary to offer version one of their product? That's the real consequence of this."
- On a possible Google wireless service: "I'm sure we will discuss this, but at the moment we're busy working on wireline. This Kansas City stuff is extraordinarily exciting, and we're focusing on that."
- On Google Play: "Google Play and the monetization just started working well in the last year, maybe the last six months. The volume is indisputable, and with the volume comes the opportunity and the luxury of time."
- On Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8: "I have not used it, but I think that Microsoft has not emerged as a trendsetter in this new model yet."
The full interview offers much more detail on all these topics. In particular, Schmidt's comment on the state-like approach to running a company sheds some light on the complex relationship between Google and Apple. And from an Android-centric perspective, it's also interesting to read Schmidt's candid comments on Google Play, which has only recently started to reach its potential, particularly outside of the U.S.
Source: WSJ
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