With much of the snark (but none of the sex) of a Wonkette column, the Washington Post covers Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote to the high-minded and old-school Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
It makes it clear that whatever past sins Google has made with DC taste makers, the company is still serving its penance. To boot:
During his speech, Schmidt spoke expansively about technological change affecting society, using buzzwords like "convergence" and holding forth about the future of high-speed 3G mobile phones. Eyes glazed over.
Okay. Let's be fair. Most any other tech company CEO would have got the same reaction if they hadn't spent most of their time talking about China, Middle East policy and what to do about Iran. (You can see the rest of the Carnegie conference docket here.) Let's not make this a damned if you do, damned if don't thing forever.
BTW, one audience question not covered in the piece, but contained in the video that Post shares is "what happens to personal privacy when everything is recorded all the time for ever?" Schmidt let out an audible "ugh" and then compared the issue to the Nixon tapes. He explains:
"Everyone of you spend all your time having the Nixon tapes recorded of you. Your email.... Almost everything you do. And, (Nixon) lost his job. If he hadn't foolishly recorded all he did, he wouldn't have to resign.... (pause and with his fingers up in the international quote making sign)... my daughter calls this too much sharing in your early life. What do you think what all these teenage boys and girls are going to think when, in 20 years, all their statements that they made are still there and there is no way to get rid of them."
Hmmmmmm. Makes me think about the old "database of intentions" issues and how hard it is for the average person to turn off the tape recorder, so to speak.
For more on Google in DC, we have plenty of gossip, news and links to other coverage.
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