r5 outside the box the Google phone
company and the Google
company chapter one they already hate us
what's the downside you might say that
the seeds of the Google telephone
company took root right after the
company moved out of its Palo Alto
office to Mountain View in August 1999
the tenants moving into the space Google
vacated was a startup company named
danger dangers co-founder Andy Rubin was
a veteran of Apple in the early 1990s
and a fabled startup called General
magic he'd started danger to make a
mobile communications device called the
sidekick less a cell phone that a tiny
computer arguably the first smartphone
with a measurable IQ instant messaging
not phone calls was the sidekicks main
purpose you held it sideways slid out to
keyboard and began thumb punching IMS
which appeared in colorful pop-ups on a
bright screen it became popular with
teenagers and rap musicians the
sidekicks built-in search engine was
Google the engineers just liked Google
he says in 2002 Rubin was demoing the
sidekick for a class at Stanford when
someone approached him to tell him how
cool it was that was Larry Page a couple
of years later Rubin made it a point to
visit Google when he was seeking
partnerships and funding for his next
startup he'd left danger and eventually
Microsoft bought the company Reubens new
idea was to create an operating system
that would power whole families of
smartphones then give the system to the
big network carriers like Verizon or
Sprint for free this would save the
carrier's money since they wouldn't have
to license an operating system from a
company like Microsoft or build their
own typically a carrier pays 20% of the
per phone cost for an operating system
the system would be written under the
rules of open-source software with the
code available to any software authors
who wanted to write applications
Ruben's plan was to make money by
selling back-end services to go with the
operating
system such as storage support and
security
it was the familiar model of giving away
the razor and making money on the blades
Ruben who was a maniacal robot
aficionado he would haunt the Akihabara
district of Tokyo for weird Japanese
toys and build a few of his own called
the company Android he gathered a team
of eight to begin working on a prototype
he had a good contact at the handset
manufacturer HTC which provided him with
a top-secret new device that he could
use just for demos after a few months
Android had a working model with a set
of slick features such as contacts email
and a camera one nice touch was that
androids photo software could recognize
faces Rubin began pitching carriers in
2004 he also went to the Far East
to sell the idea to other handset
manufacturers even though he was
offering something for free it was a
tough sell the mobile phone world had a
profitable business model and was loath
to consider disruptive new schemes he
would later vividly recall the trip he
had made to Korea on my own dime
he said to present the concept to
Samsung he and two colleagues found
themselves in a huge boardroom standing
along the wall were about 20 carefully
manicured executives in blue suits Rubin
was in blue jeans the division had
arrived and as if on cue everyone sat
down Rubin gave his presentation and the
division had rocked with laughter you
have eight people in your company said
this executive and I have two thousand
people working on something that's not
as ambitious it wasn't a compliment
Rubin pressed on but he needed more
money to keep going he had funding
prospects on the line when he took a
meeting with Larry Page maybe Paige
would write an email saying that Google
wanted to place custom versions of
search and Gmail on Android phones that
might help with the venture capital
firms we really weren't there to pitch
google says rich minor androids
co-founder they gave their standard
presentation
Paige at an idea what if Google bought
Android it was a classic Larry Page
moment asked him to consider a toothpick
and right away he was thinking about a
forest later Paige would explain that he
and Sergey had been thinking about
getting deeper into mobile for a while
we had that vision he says and Andy came
along and we were like yeah we should do
it he's the guy it was 2005 and Google's
mission was to access and organize the
world's information to most people that
seemed plenty explaining how a company
that made an operating system for mobile
phones fit into this mission would
eventually present a challenge for
Google's publicists but Larry Page
interpreted Google's mission in the
broadest sense what was good for the web
was good for Google what was good for
the cloud was good for Google so it made
sense that what was good for the growing
universe of wireless communication over
mobile phone carrier networks would also
be good for Google because the carrier's
tightly controlled the software that ran
on phones using their networks Google
had reason to worry that it might not
have the opportunity to place its
services on those nets an open network
would give Google unlimited opportunity
so that even if Google spent millions of
dollars to develop an operating system
and then gave it away for free it would
still come out ahead if the move wound
up putting Google in the path of a few
more competitors so be it before Rubin
committed to Google he had to take the
measure of his potential employer
it wasn't easy because he found Google
crazy
he was accustomed to companies such as
Apple and Microsoft where you'd meet
with someone go over the corporate org
chart and figure out where you'd fit in
at Google it was impossible to figure
that out he says I met with everybody
multiple times and I'm pretty good at
extracting information and I couldn't
find out but he did at least learn that
Alan Eustace Google's director of
engineering would be
boss Ruben asked Eustace about the
process Google used to improve itself he
expected to hear about Quality Assurance
teams and focus groups instead
Eustace explained that Google's brain
was like a babies and omnivorous sponge
that was always getting smarter from the
information it soaked up when a Google
users searched for Nike shoes he was
told they were sets of algorithms that
determined search results and another
set that figured out which ad should
appear alongside the results then
another set of algorithms would run an
instant auction but the system was
always learning
Ruben liked hearing that his own
companies had evolved from protium ideas
danger had originally been centered on
digital cameras before becoming a cell
phone company so in July 2005 Android
went to Google the biggest adjustment
Ruben had to make was keeping his
limited-edition German sports car in the
garage
in 2005 ostentation was still
discouraged in the Google parking lots
at first Android was Larry's thing early
on Sergey opted out just saying he
really didn't understand mobile yet Eric
was supportive of what Larry was doing
says rich minor who went to Google with
Ruben the acquisition actually
contradicted Schmidt's frequent
proclamations that there would be no
Google phone we're not going into the
phone business but we're gonna make sure
Google is on those phones Schmidt
emphatically said in October 2004 nine
months before Google bought Android and
got into the phone business but it
wasn't very long before Sergey and Eric
were experts on mobile and could speak
very competently about it says minor at
product reviews Brin and page would
throw ideas at the team some were worth
thinking about why don't we have a
keyboard on the other side that mirrors
the one on the front others not why
don't we put solar panels on it Schmidt
was tough about some aspects - at one
GPS unhappy with a prototype keyboard he
looked straight at one of the product
managers first
really matter here he said don't it
up at another meeting he expressed
impatience that Android hadn't responded
quickly enough to his request for 5,000
units so Googlers could dog food the
product eating your own dog food that is
letting Googlers use product prototypes
in their everyday lives to detect flaws
and identify possible improvements is a
sacrosanct principle within the company
you're not taking my requests seriously
he said just about pounding the table to
punctuate his words the line assumed
legendary status in the Android building
and became a kind of punchline Rubin
appreciated the interest of his bosses
but he appreciated even more the unusual
degree of autonomy he was granted he
managed to get a special concession for
his Android team he could do his own
hiring his basic team consisted of the
group he'd imported from Android merged
with new hires snapped up from two
groups abandoned by other companies one
contingent came from Palm where they'd
worked on a system called palm source
they were devotees of the open source
software movement and were drawn by
Google's promise that Android would be
an open source project open to hacking
and improvements by the geek community
that avidly participated in such
projects the other was a bunch of people
from Microsoft's ill-fated web TV
project we had these three groups with
very strong ideas about what androids
should be so there were a lot of heated
debates says Dianne Hackborn who had
come from poms source Rubin also drew
talent from within Google now that
Google was running Android the former
startups business model changed the Razr
part of the equation the operating
system would still be free to carriers
but the blades were no longer boring
things such as back-end services Android
would be a Trojan horse for Google's
consumer apps chief among them mobile
search they already existed so I didn't
have
do any work says Reuben and it's not
boring it's stuff like Gmail maps all
this cool stuff the boring back-office
stuff went away and it became stuff that
delights consumers better yet the
partner reaction to Android changed
not long after Rubin joined he returned
to Samsung this time backed by an
Internet giant he left with a contract
he had similar experiences with other
companies he approached one deal was
made with an executive who had
previously told Rubin that only in his
dreams with such an agreement
materialize we had to try really hard
not to let decisions be affected by that
says Ruben Ruben tapped a new Google
employee named Eric Tsang to manage the
product Tseng had a CS master's from MIT
and had spent a few years as a McKinsey
and company consultant before going back
to school to get an MBA from Stanford
he'd been about to take a job as a
venture capitalist with Sequoia when
Eric Schmidt who lectured at the
business school at Stanford took him to
lunch one day imagine a world Smith told
him where a company like Google can
provide cell phones to everyone in the
world for free now imagine the
possibility of what that can enable it's
not just about the phones whether you're
in the US or you're in Africa you will
be connected to your family your friends
and to all the content on the web that
is something Google is possibly working
on he said that's what sold me on
Android says sang at first the Android
team worked on two different systems one
was called the sooner it was based on
the existing Android prototype with a
keypad sitting underneath the screen
sooner was designed to get into the
market quickly sooner absorbed most of
the energy in androids early days at
Google for the long term Rubens group
wanted to develop a more advanced
platform with a touchscreen he dubbed
that version the dream but in January
2007 Apple's new iPhone redefined the
smartphone with its touchscreen
tightly integrated software and sharp
display the iPhone had delivered the
future ahead of schedule sooner became
never an Android went straight to the
dream early that year the press began
reporting rumors that Google was indeed
working on a G phone Brin and especially
Paige were furious at the leak ominously
informing employees at a TGIF that
Google had launched an investigation and
even accidental breaches would not be
tolerated
when an employee noted that the
publicity about the project seemed
positive suggesting that the company was
going overboard in a Nixon esque mole
hunt Paige was unyielding I think that's
a decision for the team to make not you
he said but Rubin wasn't too surprised
that the news of a Google phone projects
had leaked out if you get a guy who
started a company that built the phone
what else are you going to do he says in
any case he said that people didn't have
the imagination to see what Google was
really up to so the secret was safe but
as one person in particular began to
understand what Google was up to a
bitter rivalry was born that person was
Steve Jobs the Apple CEO since Jobs's
original meeting with page and Brin the
one where the Google kids had decided
that he would meet their CEO
requirements the relationship between
the two companies had blossomed the
Google founders were entranced by jobs
as vision and decisiveness and Jobs was
excited by the opportunity to hook up
with a business whose activities were
entirely complementary to Apple's there
seemed to be no competitive overlap the
two firms embarked on a potentially
glorious industry changing Alliance in
which the veteran Jobs would lend his
expertise and wisdom to the smarty-pants
internet kids and the two firms together
would take down Microsoft all sorts of
concepts were discussed how about a free
version of the Mac OS supported by Apple
ads what about a Google eyes version of
Apple's Safari
browser jobs bombed it especially with
Bryn both lived in Palo Alto and the
pair would take long walks around the
town and up in the hills current and
future kings of the valley inventing the
future in August 2006 jobs invited Eric
Schmidt to sit on Apple's board of
directors which included Google board
member Arthur Levinson CEO of Genentech
and Bill Campbell Google's corporate
coach Al Gore sat on Apple's board while
he was the self-described virtual
Advisory Board at Google Intel CEO Paul
Otellini who was on Google's board had
started supplying the chips for
Macintosh computers there was so much
overlap that it was almost as if Apple
and Google were a single company
smartphones seemed to be the logical
nexus of the unofficial partnership
Google had a bustling mobile division
apart from Android intended to put
Google's squarely into the world of
smartphones mainly by a way of making
mobile applications of products like
Gmail Google Maps and especially search
Apple's iPhone looked to be the showcase
for what those apps could do when
liberated from the desktop Google's
mobile division was headed by Vic
Gundotra who had previously been a
high-level Microsoft executive in 1976
at age 7 he had been fascinated by the
term information age which set a course
for his life that led him to work for
Bill Gates for 12 years Gundotra had
bled windows but in 2002 sitting with
family and friends at a restaurant his
four-year-old daughter accidentally
overheard him say the words I don't know
she broke into the conversation with a
suggestion he should get out his phone
and find out whatever it was he didn't
know in her reality after all when
someone is stumped on a question the
place to look for answers was that hands
size device it was a Eureka moment for
Gundotra it dawned on me that the
culmination of the in
age was not going to be at Microsoft he
says it wasn't about a computer on every
desktop but making the world's
information accessible and available
after trying to sound alarms at
Microsoft about the paradigm shift he
concluded that the company could not
accept the reality that Windows was no
longer the center of the universe the
web was by 2006 he was at Google kundo
his team works with Apple to make sure
that the iPhone shipped in the summer of
2007 launched with two crucial apps a
slick implementation of Google Maps and
a special version of YouTube that
enabled the iPhone to access its
millions of videos one Thursday Google's
mobile group called an emergency meeting
at 7:00 a.m. to discuss how Google had
to push more six weeks later there was a
new Google mobile search rolling out
first on the iPhone making use of the
voice recognition knowledge gleaned by
Google's voice powered 1-800 good for
one one directory assistance project the
app lets you dictate search terms into
the phone with startling accuracy but as
Android developed Google's mobile
efforts looked more toward the company's
own technology if you love Google then
the Android phone is a phenomenal phone
for you says Gundotra because it allows
us to get innovation out to the phone
very quickly Google still put a lot of
efforts into working with other
platforms
after all as people used phones more and
more the number of searches on phones
was growing eventually the number of
searches performed on a phone would
exceed those on computers I don't think
that anyone at Google has a doubt that
the day is coming
says Gundotra of that milestone Google
professed to have a permanent nook in
its heart for the iPhone which was an
unofficial Google cousin but when Google
shifted from sooner to dream google's
focus turned to its own child apparently
it took a while for jobs to understand
that Google was becoming his
it was almost a year after the Android
acquisition that Schmidt joined Apple's
board I feel I fully disclosed it when I
joined says Schmidt who adds that he
also informed Jobs about the impending
Chrome browser but at that time Jobs
apparently believed that Google's phone
plans rested with the sooner version
which was more of a competitor to
Microsoft's Windows Mobile than an
iPhone rival when Apple introduced its
iPhone in January 2007 Jobs didn't seem
to be worried about Android at least
judging by the mutual good feeling when
Jobs called Schmidt to the stage at the
product launch
Schmidt joked that the collaboration was
so close that the two firms might as
well combine if we merge the companies
we can call it Apple goo but we can
merge without merging by 2008 however
the trajectories of the two companies at
least with respect to phones was less a
merger than an impending collision an
implicit segment came from a decision to
bar Schmidt from hearing product plans
for Apple's phone it's not like it was a
new discovery it was an evolution says
Schmidt apparently referring to Google's
accelerated plans to launch a device
that behaved like an iPhone so at the
end of my second year as a board member
Steve and I agreed without discord that
I would recuse myself from the phone
discussions when the iPhone came up at
Apple board meetings
Schmidt would leave the room he would
later say that he had been kept totally
in the dark about the evolution of
Apple's tablet computer the iPad Schmidt
also kept his distance from Android
something that Ruben regretted there
were decisions along the way where I
could have used Derek and I was left to
fend for myself
says Ruben meanwhile Schmidt would joke
to Googlers that he treated every Apple
board meeting as if it were his last
still Schmidt insisted that