Michael T. Jones: "Google is a mirror to the world"

This Thursday evening, Michael T. Jones, Google’s Chief Technology Advocate, is to give a talk entitled The Power of Information as part of the annual UOC Alumni meeting. 

This Thursday morning, during the press conference, Jones talked about technology, society, communication media and, above all, Google’s capabilities and one of his ‘dreams’: Google Earth.

“The power of information is letting everyone have this information. If someone wants to find something, we help them find it. We help people find information on websites that already exist. We are just a link. It’s data that we find and share.” This is how Michael T. Jones described the task that Google carries out. “Our business is highly focused on doing what users want, and not on what Google wants. Google is a mirror to the world.”

About social relations and education

Jones’s opinions go well beyond simply technology and applications at Google. They are a way to understand the world and society. Google wants to be present in the changes that are to come, changes to learning systems, changes to the way we work, etc.

“My ambition is for people to be more connected, to have more information so as to be more intelligent. I hope everyone’s IQ increases by twenty points. That’s my dream” said Jones.

“The most important technologies in the future will be those that connect people more, those that are in constant contact with people. What’s important is not the form but the communication. There will be geographical changes. Google only affects 22% of the population, because the other 78% does not have access to the internet. We need more people.”

About communication media and Google News

Jones spoke about the complaints from certain media against Google News. “It’s not a complaint, it’s a discussion. Google News indexes websites with free news services and some newspapers feel that people go to Google News and not to their paper. They have accused us of stealing market share from papers, but we only provide the first few lines of each news item. You have to go on to the paper. We tell them that we bring people to the papers, something they have been unable to do with their versions. Murdoch says that you can’t see his paper without paying. We believe that stories are richer if there is coverage online, if there is more information.”

Likewise, he considers that Google has made technology improve, but “the communication media, and the written media in particular, have not taken advantage of the opportunities as they should have done. Whenever a new technology appears, their business goes down. We talk to the media to optimise resources. Stories on paper don’t make the most of the story.”

“People don’t want to buy the whole paper, they just want some specific news items. The value of the paper is greater than the value of the news items.” This is, according to Jones, why newspaper sales are going down. Despite all this, Jones does not believe that news is dead. “Democracy needs information. People can’t vote if they don’t know what’s going on.”