But Not All Walks of Life, I Guess

Nick Bilton on the growing secrecy in Silicon Valley:

At Google, a company that prides itself on openness, some buildings were on “lockdown” to ensure that upcoming products don’t leak. Later, a Google employee, who of course asked not to be named for fear of repercussions from their employer, told me the heightened secrecy was something new for the company.

“It’s a very delicate time in technology right now. Google is competing with everyone: Facebook and Twitter on a social level, Apple with mobile, Microsoft with search,” explained the Google employee. “Google has started to realize that they have to protect upcoming products and adopting secrecy has become necessary within the organization.”

Google senior vice president Jonathan Rosenberg in December 2009, on “The Meaning of Open”:

Open will win. It will win on the Internet and will then cascade across many walks of life: The future of government is transparency. The future of commerce is information symmetry. The future of culture is freedom. The future of science and medicine is collaboration. The future of entertainment is participation. Each of these futures depends on an open Internet.

(For what it’s worth, though, Larry Page showed Rosenberg the door when he took the CEO helm.)

★ Wednesday, 29 June 2011