In Kai-Fu Lee’s wonderful equation, “youth + freedom + equality + bottom-up innovation + user focus + don’t be evil = The Miracle of Google,” the most important piece is not youth, freedom, equality, innovation or don’t be evil, it is bottom-up innovation. Via New York Times.
Although the secret to real estate is location, location, location, the secret to opening a foreign presence is localize, localize, localize.
If we American people and the Federal Government get all uppity and use Google as a political martyr against China, then the blowback against Google and any Internet service or cultural atache or diplomat will be too dear.
Gu G?, Google’s new Chinese name meaning “Song of the Harvest,” needs to be what the Chinese need — all of them, not just the people but the entire nation-state; otherwise, this is a rude example of exporting democracy and exporting “freedoms” that the rest of the world might not want.
Give them what they want, what they need, and then let them define their own culture and their own needs. Accessing the tools is the first step but try not to be so ham fisted that all of these fantastic Google toys don’t get confiscated before any of the amazing creativity and bottom-up innovation can find root, ultimately fruit!
