As Google CEO Eric Schmidt tells it, Istanbul became his epiphany.
He was on his first trip there, riding in a cab and looking up information on Ottoman history through his laptop. Then it hit him. It was time to unplug from his Internet addiction. He was failing to see the world around him because he was logged into the Web.
Schmidt stressed the message recently when he addressed 6,000 grads at the University of Pennsylvania commencement. He said, “It’s possible to spend your life in a computer. Life is the people around you.”
He added, “Nothing beats holding the hand of your grandchild as he walks his first steps.”
Those same hands, we note and not facetiously, will be typing a search into Google someday. But there was no better commencement address given this year.
At the University of North Carolina, Archbishop Desmond Tutu talked about hunger. Bill Clinton, predictably, urged Florida A&M; grads to give of themselves. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave the old rah-rah “know your power, know your passion” speech.
And how about the male judge addressing Indiana University grads by acknowledging his 40 years of male companionship and thanking Alfred Kinsey and his sex institute? Way off base.
No speech might have been more direct than Schmidt’s. Ironically, it comes as the Federal Trade Commission is probing possible antitrust violations between Google and Apple. Schmidt serves on both boards. The Clayton Antitrust Act bars individuals from sitting on the boards of competing companies if it might reduce competition between them.
In the long run, and we mean decades, Schmidt’s case probably won’t impact either Google or Apple. All he has to do is resign from one or the other.
But grads should be watching the outcome of the investigation and they should heed Schmidt’s commencement advice. The Internet world could cause Schmidt some headaches, so he’s wise to step away from it.
His admonition serves our youth who are so plugged into their computer worlds.
Find the off button on the computer. Close the laptop. Walk into life.
Editorials
Editorial: Google CEO is right on line with message
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