Google Hires Vint Cerf 307
hsuwh writes "Google has hired Internet pioneer Vint Cerf away from MCI as its "Chief Internet Evangelist".
"He is one of the most important people alive today," said [Google CEO Eric] Schmidt, who has been friends with Cerf for more than 20 years. "Vint has put his heart and soul into making the Internet happen. I know he is going to jump right in here and start shoveling out new ideas for Google.""
Do they have a strategy behind this? (Score:5, Interesting)
Vint (Score:2, Interesting)
This guy is amazing.
The world is not enough... (Score:5, Interesting)
Context sensitive ads for Mars rovers anyone?
Google PBS commercial (Score:5, Interesting)
Botht the Cerf and PBS thing shows Google is moving away from being just a startup and more of a community player.
Re:snark (Score:3, Interesting)
It's a very old usage, Bell Labs had evangelists and I don't think they were the first.
Re:He did what? (Score:4, Interesting)
Second, there is an acceptable period in which you can gloat about your accomplishments. 8 terms of office later
Granted hindsight is always 20/20 there are a lot of flaws with IP and TCP in general. It isn't perfect and frankly the lack of progress since the early 80s when TCP/IP was standardized shows that his "ability to innovate" is right up there with grapefruit.
As for this interplanetry bullshit, it's the same ol' same ol'. You apply error correction codes and do longer packets once the connection has been established. You can even do SYN/ACK over a different medium.
The fact is we can simulate [in about 200 lines of C code] a "network with really long delays and random chances of packet drops".
You don't have to be in space to test out what delays do to a protocol...
Tom
You have to wonder what they are up to... (Score:5, Interesting)
You really have to wonder what they are up to.. Now either what I put in my previous post is correct and they are just trying to minimise their risk by distributing the BGP peers and reducing their risk, and trying to cut out Akamai who they were originally paying a reasonable amount of money to for various hosting things. Or they are about to come out with something over the next couple of years that will put us all in shock. I have no idea what is about to become of this..
Does anyone have any ideas on what they would be doing with one of the pioneers of the internet and a truckload of fibre?
Re:Cerf at NASA on Google-like project? (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's a link to an article about Google hiring people with experience in buying dark fiber capacity: http://news.com.com/Google+wants+dark+fiber/2100-
The question to me is, how does this tie in with Cerf's hiring?
Pure speculation, but is Google trying to build its own backbone with proprietary protocols?
Or will Cerf be working on implementing current protocols, either for Google's internal needs, or for an entrance by Google into telecom?
Are phone.Google, video.Google, etc too far away?
Does Google want to get into content delivery as well as search?
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:a case of mistaken identity? (Score:5, Interesting)
The only exaggeration was Gore's, claiming that he took "legislative initiative in creating the Internet." He had a part, he showed leadership and vision, and deserves credit for that. But he implied, while trying to get elected President, that he was responsible for the creation of the Internet, when what he did was recognize its importance and apply tax dollars.
For a while, he was the loudest, if not the only, voice at the Federal level saying that the Internet needed funding. But create the Internet? Get real.
Re:Do they have a strategy behind this? (Score:1, Interesting)
Who's running Google, George Steinbrenner? (Score:5, Interesting)
Sure, that has (for the most part) worked rather well for the Yankees, but they are also highly criticized for their gluttonous payroll, and dare I say, anticompetetive behavior.
How long will it take Google to earn that same scorn?
Re:Who's running Google, George Steinbrenner? (Score:2, Interesting)
Between the less than enormous pay and the *lack* of explanation regarding what work I'd actually be doing, I ended up turning down the job. It seems they are more interested in the people than the work they'll do.
Google is certainly good at getting a lot of people on board, but they seem to be relying mostly on marketing to the engineer than showing them how they would be useful to the company.
For some people the actual work being done matters.
I am not being sarcastic, maybe a bit of an a-hole (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know how technically competent he is to-date, however althought he came up with cool shit (tcp/ip) I get this impression (total intuition here) that he's pretty much useless 30 years later. Am I missing something? Am I wrong?
For instance, I know he is a visionary... However, take a great number of reasonably bright people on slashdot for example. I bet you we (individually, for the most part) would come up with the same ideas, and basic concepts that he will while he's working at google.
Don't get me wrong - the guy is good, he obviously is comfortable thinking in his own realm/sphere, but I bet you there are probably tcp/ip topics that blow his f-ing mind -- stuff that he can't even come up with. Or, I could be wrong. What is he doing there? What the heck was he doing at MCI? I'm sure the engineers at MCI probably think, what the F does Vint know about installing an OC48, or a DSLAM, or BGP routing, etc. I just can't see him getting his hands dirty. What are they hoping to accomplish with this guy?
As far as the guy from Microsoft - he sounds pretty darn bright with all the speech technology he was working on. That guy sounds like he is in the know, and has the theory and practical under his belt, and the innovation floating on his brain 24/7.
I'm not bashing Cerf, I just question what the hell good is he there? Someone tell me please. Remember - I like the guy.