I disagree with Jon Mitchell's take on the fantastic news that Ray Kurzweil has joined Google in a full-time role in Mountain View as Director of Engineering.
Pairing the iconoclastic futurist/inventor with arguably the most innovative technology company in the world is not scary but very exciting (although I catch Jon's drift).
Much as it did when it hired Vint Cerf, one of the internet's father figures, Google has once again boosted its nerd/geek street cred with the addition of Kurzweil to its roster of science and tech luminaries.
This is definitely a coup for Larry Page & Co. Not quite on the same level as when Princeton's fledgling Institute for Advanced Study landed Einstein. But after the Pope of Science made his way to New Jersey many of the leading physicists, mathematicians and scientists of the day followed. No doubt Kurzweil's arrival in Mountain View should have a similar effect in drawing today's pioneers in the areas where Ray has made significant contributions, such as speech recognition and artificial intelligence.
Ray begins his new gig on December 17. Congrats to Ray and Google, and we anxiously await the results of your collaboration!
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| Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil joins Google |
Much as it did when it hired Vint Cerf, one of the internet's father figures, Google has once again boosted its nerd/geek street cred with the addition of Kurzweil to its roster of science and tech luminaries.
This is definitely a coup for Larry Page & Co. Not quite on the same level as when Princeton's fledgling Institute for Advanced Study landed Einstein. But after the Pope of Science made his way to New Jersey many of the leading physicists, mathematicians and scientists of the day followed. No doubt Kurzweil's arrival in Mountain View should have a similar effect in drawing today's pioneers in the areas where Ray has made significant contributions, such as speech recognition and artificial intelligence.
Ray begins his new gig on December 17. Congrats to Ray and Google, and we anxiously await the results of your collaboration!
In the meantime the creator of the programming language Python moves from Google to Dropbox! (https://tech.dropbox.com/2012/12/welcome-guido/)
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