Rui CarmoIt looks like big corporations are on the head-hunting path again, and it's interesting to take a look at who they recruited and how that fits company strategy. I suppose lots of other people will be commenting on these over the next few weeks, so I'll keep it short and simple.
Yahoo Becomes More Mobile
First up is Yahoo, who recently got hold of Christian Lindholm to tackle on their Global Mobile Product vice-presidency.
Christian has become somewhat of a muted legend in the way he steered several projects inside Nokia - discreet, reliable, visionary, for sure, but never the brass flashy kind (this from people who worked with him directly and who met him in industry venues).
Quite a few people in the business think that his greatest challenge will be wrenching Yahoo from its US-centric stance and stewarding its services' expansion towards more multicultural shores, and all of them wish him luck - although the "global mobile internet" is still a dim vision, he is one of the people most likely to deliver it.
Google Goes Interplanetary
Next up is Google. For an advertising company (which is still their most significant source of revenue), they have always shown an amazing knack for out-of-the-box thinking, and their recent hiring of "Uncle Vint" shows that they're sticking to it.
Vinton Cerf has built an amazing career on out-of-the-box, innovative thinking, and tweaking TCP/IP for interplanetary space will not be the end of it.
His vision (and name) are sure to have an effect in Google's strategy (even though we already know it will all be done in their usual "stealth mode", and although his new responsibilities are still somewhat nebulous (even after this CNET article shed some light on them), Google will surely take advantage of his lateral thinking on several fronts.
It ain't going to be just LBS, believe me - and a guy with the sense of humor to write RFC:968 (and plenty others) is sure to take to Google like a fish to water.
Microsoft Shoots Corporate Self In Foot
Finally, Microsoft has gone and tried to recruit Eric S. Raymond, also known as the enfant terrible of Open Source (as well as by many other nicknames, not all of them printable).
His reply will be quoted six ways from Sunday, but the most humorous (and printable) bit is -
On the day I go to work for Microsoft, faint oinking sounds will be heard from far overhead, the moon will not merely turn blue but develop polkadots, and hell will freeze over so solid the brimstone will go superconductive.
Pop Quiz:
Which two of these companies get it?