With the changes occurring at Google right now, could we be feeling the impact of Page taking this advice to heart?<p>It seems Google are pruning a lot of stuff they must see as external to their core business, and putting happy-safe bubble wrap around services like search (see todays story about the + operator being depreciated to the dismay of advanced users).<p>I suppose this is Google trying to improve themselves, lets just hope they can execute as well as Apple when it comes to making super simplified products that people want.
Steve's advice to Nike:<p>"Nike makes some of the best products in the world. Products that you lust after. But you also make a lot of crap. Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff."<p>Dropping products, even crappy ones, that produce revenue is difficult when investors demand non-stop growth, quarter after quarter, and your employees are afraid of losing their jobs or political fiefdoms.
That's pretty cool that Jobs was willing to meet with Page, particularly given how miffed he was about android.<p>One area where I hope Google doesn't follow Apple is in engineering culture. For instance, isn't it true that most of the engineers who worked on the original iphone literally never even saw one until it was unveiled to the public? Whether or not the "bottom up" opportunities for engineers to influence products at Google is as effective as a top down culture under the likes of Jobs and Ives is debatable, but it sure seems like working at Google is a lot more fun! (disclosure: I worked at Google, am basing my impressions on what it's like to work at Apple on anecdotes and only a couple of direct accounts from engineers who have worked there).
I would have loved to see Jobs' comments about Yahoo. He likely would have been so apoplectic he wouldn't be able to speak.<p>His meetings with record labels are kind of legendary for this very reason.
Forgive my denseness, but is "being larded with B players" a reference to employees? I'm not disagreeing, it just isn't clear to me if he's calling out Microsoft employees.