谷歌副總:我們對安卓和Chrome一視同仁
????多年以來,權威人士們一直搞不明白谷歌(Google)為什么需要安卓和Chrome兩個計算平臺。 ????通常來說安卓不會遭到什么質疑,因為它是有史以來最成功的操作系統之一,這也使有些分析人士和投資人開始質疑稍晚推出的Chrome OS操作系統的價值。 ????桑德爾?皮恰伊憑借Chrome瀏覽器和操作系統的成功躋身為谷歌內部說一不二的技術權威,但他經常忽視外界的這些質疑。最近在接受《財富》(Fortune)專訪時,這位負責谷歌公司Chrome、安卓和應用部門的高級副總裁表示,谷歌并不需要在這兩個平臺中做出選擇,因為兩個平臺都很重要。他認為Chrome不僅僅是一個平臺或操作系統,而且是包含了Chrome平臺上的一整套網絡技術。在如今多屏幕的科技世界中,它是對安卓的一個重要補充。 ????下文是此次專訪的文字節選,為清晰起見進行了編輯和濃縮。 ????《財富》:在高層層面上,Chrome平臺對谷歌有什么意義?從瀏覽器和操作系統上它的意義很明確,但是隨著它發展出Chromecast谷歌電視棒、Chromebox for Meeting視頻會議系統等子產品,Chrome系統的這些衍生系統背后的統一主題是什么? ????皮恰伊:我們的生活中將有越來越多的東西需要實現互聯。人們構建網絡的最初目的就是互聯。Chrome等網絡技術將在設備互聯方面扮演至關重要的角色。 ????Chromecast谷歌電視棒就是一個例子。如果你有一臺電視,你把這個小東西插上去,讓它播放手機的YouTube視頻,它就會播放,非常神奇,而且它工作得既自然又輕松。這就是網絡和網絡的天性使然,從中也能看到這種模式的美。 ????有意思的是,Chrome并不天生就是這樣。 ????它首先是用在網絡上的。很多東西都從桌面應用轉移到了瀏覽器應用,比如Gmail和谷歌地圖。雖然我們一開始沒考慮這種用途,但它一開始就是為了網絡而生的,是為了拓展網絡的應用前景。在有了像Chrome這樣的大型平臺以后能干些什么的問題上,Chromecast給了一個令我興奮的答案。它給了我們一個機會去做一些其他人不一定會想到的事。 ????你怎樣解釋Chrome對谷歌的戰略重要性? ????計算設備在人們的生活中扮演著非常重要的角色,我們現在已經把計算擴展到了很多事情上。隨著人們的生活需要越來越多的計算設備,大家會希望它們能協同工作。希望這些屏幕以一種合理的方式共同工作。我覺得我們擁有一個獨特的定位,因為我們有兩個很好的工具,也就是Chrome和安卓這兩個大型開放平臺。有了它們,我們就可以把這些資源集中在一起,解決用戶面臨的問題。 ????但是這也造成了一種局面,就是大家肯定會想,這兩個平臺哪個更好。比如就電視來說,既有基于Chrome的Chromecast,也有基于安卓的谷歌電視。 ????如果再考慮得深一些,還有更多的工具和平臺擺在面前讓你選擇。如果你關注的是用戶,那么你總是會為這個問題提供最好的解決方案。這是一個很好的問題。 ????拉里?佩奇也談到過多屏幕世界。Chrome在整合多屏幕世界上有多重要? ????我認為它可以扮演一個至關重要的角色——甚至比大多數人想得更重要。今天我未必把Chrome看作一個瀏覽器,而是看成一個范例,一個平臺,一個網絡平臺。作為網絡技術的支持者,它會在確保多屏幕和諧共處、合力協作、造福用戶上扮演重要角色。 ????對于谷歌自己來說,這兩個平臺是否存在其中一個比另一個更重要的情況? |
????For years, pundits have asked Google why it needs two computing platforms, Android and Chrome. ????Usually, Android is not the issue. Google's mobile OS is one of the most successful operating systems ever, leaving some analysts and investors to question to value of the newer Chrome OS. ????SundarPichai, who rode the success of the Chrome browser and OS to a position of unparalleled technical sway at Google (GOOG), has often brushed aside those questions. In an interview withFortune, Pichai, a senior vice president in charge of Chrome, Apps, and Android, says that Google does not have to choose between the two platforms. Both are important. ????Chrome -- not just the operating system or the browser, but the set of web-based technologies that underpin the platform -- is a vital complement to Android in a multi-screen world, he says. ????Below is a transcript of that conversation, edited and condensed for clarity. ????Fortune: At high level, what's the Chrome platform to Google? With the browser and OS it's fairly clear, but once it branches into Chromecast, Chromebox for Meetings, and so forth, what's the unifying theme behind all those iterations of the platform? ????Pichai: Increasingly we will have more and more things in our lives which have to get connected. The web was built from the ground up to connect things. Chrome and web technologies will play a pivotal role in helping connect things. ????Cast is an example of it. It's amazing that you have a TV and you put this small thing in there, you tell it to play YouTube from the phone. All of it works naturally and easily. That's what the web and its attributes were designed to do. That's the beauty of the model. ????Interesting. Chrome didn't start out that way. ????It started with web. Things were shifting from desktop applications to applications in the browser like Gmail and Maps. While we didn't think of it that way at that time, it's been about the web and what the web can do. It's part of what excites me about being able to have a large platform like Chrome. It gives us a chance to do things that others are not necessarily thinking about. ????How you would explain Chrome's strategic importance to Google? ????Computing obviously is playing a really powerful role in people's lives. We are expanding computing to many things. Increasingly, as you have more computing devices in your life, you want it all to work together. You want these screens to work together in ways that make sense to you. I feel we are uniquely positioned because we have two great tools, in Chrome and Android, two large open platforms, with which we can bring these things together to solve problems focusing on the user. ????That also creates a situation where you must wonder which is the better approach. For television, you have Chromecast and you have Google TV, which is Android-based. ????If you are thoughtful about it, you have more tools and more approaches, and if you focus on the user, you always bring the best solution to the problem. It's a great problem to have. ????Larry Page talks about the multiscreen world. How important is Chrome in making that multiscreen world come together? ????I think it can play a pivotal role -- more profound than most people internalize. [I am] not necessarily thinking of Chrome as a browser today, but as a paradigm, as a platform, as a web platform. As a proponent for web technologies, it will play a critical role in making sure that in a multiscreen world, those screens work together in harmony and work together for users. ????Is one platform more important than the other to Google? |