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The Upgrade
Tech Events Aren’t Fun Anymore
Google I/O brought some updates but no “gee whiz” moments
A conversation with a computer, a search that can “see” beyond the typed word, A.I. that can detect lung cancer before human doctors. These are all amazing achievements, and I bobbed my head appreciatively as Google CEO Sundar Pichai and various other execs unveiled them at this year’s Google I/O keynote.
But when I close my eyes and think of Google I/O events of years past, certain images flood in, like a team of parachute divers jumping out of an airplane to introduce Google Glass, a weather balloon delivering internet access from the sky, phones you assembled from puzzle-like pieces, and fabric that seemed alive. These achievements were stunning, audacious, and exciting.
But those days are gone.
Some might argue that the products Google unveiled on Tuesday — privacy-focused software updates and some fresh hardware iterations — are inspired in their own way. But I wonder what happened to the moon-shot-obsessed Google that toyed with robots, cooked up ridiculous modular phone ideas, and put a giant Android-powered labyrinth game on the floor of the 2011 Google I/O convention space.
