Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. [XN Iraki, Standard]
California appears to have been ahead of time in countering New England’s renowned strategic institutions.
Stanford is a counterweight to Harvard, while Caltech balances the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Silicon Valley has Boston and its biotechnology as a counterweight.
New York is a big blue state (Democratic), just as is California. New York’s JFK International Airport has Ronald Reagan as a counterweight. San Francisco is what New York is to the East Coast.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
A visit to the US is not complete without hopping to California. My first attraction was technology and innovation, just like our Big 5 and sandy beaches.
These are natural California attractions, whereas manmade attractions are a product of human ingenuity and innovation. Like the visit to New England, I made a few observations.
One is from the air, after overflying Oregon into California, the greenery slowly turned into a desert.
But Californians have tamed the desert into total submission using water from the northern part and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.
Irrigated farmlands on the edge of the desert produce fruits and other foods for the hungry nation.
I remembered the Central and Napa valleys in our high school geography. Is that where we got our inspiration to be global?
What topics are in high school geography today? Curiously, agriculture is one of the leading industries in California, but is drowned in publicity by high tech.
From the air, the circular Apple Inc. headquarters was visible, just like farmlands, highways and railway termini.
Farmlands break into Silicon Valley and its hallowed institutions and firms. Could that be a good model for Kenya, too?
Two, the first advert I saw on getting out of the airport in San Jose was for San Jose State University.
What adverts do you see first in our airports? That tells you something about the character of the state or region. I did not see any advert for beer or soda on my intellectual pilgrimage.
We visited two companies – Google and Facebook (Meta). Our host at Google was a Kenyan, a former student of Koelel High School in Gilgil.
Having used Gmail for 19 years, this was a worthy visit and an eye-opener. I should have visited Google earlier in my career. Read on to find out why.
The original Google building, made of bricks mimicking elite universities, still stands. We started our visit with lunch. It’s free for guests and Google workers, and it’s a buffet. Why would Google provide free food to its workers?
That makes economic sense. How would one expect Google workers to come up with the next generation of innovations, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) products like Gemini, if they are thinking of hunger first?
One can take breakfast, lunch and dinner there. You can he sure the cost of food is easily covered by higher productivity and innovations. What excuse would one give for not being productive?
Giving workers food is not a new idea. The colonial government provided its workers with food. Remember posho and rations?
A few companies, like Osho Chemicals in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, give food to their workers. Like Google, the colonialists got their productivity.
I noted the diversity of the workforce as we toured the Google buildings. That is another catalyst for innovations.
Yet our counties want to be “pure.” I saw no armed policemen or guards in the Google complex. And no one checked if we had stolen something when leaving.
Think of the value of Google assets, both physical and intellectual; yet, we find it hard to access companies and institutions in debt!
Walking through Google buildings, it was clear the firm has blurred the border between work and leisure. The workspace is designed for freedom, with no traditional office cubicles.
Instead, it has sofas, open spaces, and coffee everywhere. And why not? Thinking is Google’s key asset, and you can think anywhere, even in sleep.
To a Kenyan used to the 8-5pm and clocking in and out, that was enlightening. The Google model has worked.
It’s market capitalisation. We seem to spend more time watching over employees than letting them work. Give them targets and let them figure out the means to achieve that; how else do you make them creative and innovative?
It’s another question if we pay our thinkers and innovators well enough for their work.
Four, as we shifted from one Google building to another, we took a driverless car owned by Waymo, a Google company.
The car is a Jaguar. The trip cost us $17 (Sh2,193). It was fun! You call the car through the phone (like Uber), it stops, and you sit, relax and ride to your destination.
I sat next to an empty driver’s seat and watched the car drive itself with passengers in the back.
It respected traffic lights, overtook other cars and changed lanes. I loudly wondered what would happen to all the drivers and driving schools once these cars became widespread.
And they are in San Francisco City as taxis. For once, I appreciated Arthur Clarke, the science fiction writer’s comment that “advanced technology and magic are indistinguishable.”
Despite driverless cars, there are lots of bicycles for the workers in Google buildings. They are painted in Google colours! This is a clear lesson that, despite advances in technology, we remain human.
It’s also sentimental for those who can ride a bike. It could also be part of greenness and a sign of freedom.
Bikes give you more freedom in motion than cars, but walking gives you even more freedom. Freedom and innovation go together.
The Google key building, where the driverless car took us, looks like a tent and mimics the mountains in the background.
The roof is made of solar panels, innovations everywhere. Across the street is the NASA Ames Research Centre. Do they cooperate with Google?
While leaving Google, I felt we needed to start a unit in our universities called Googlogy 101 to explore how innovations are nurtured and commercialised.
Next week: Meta, Stanford and key lessons from Silicon Valley.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.
[XN Iraki, Standard]
California appears to have been ahead of time in countering New England’s renowned strategic institutions.
Stanford is a counterweight to Harvard, while Caltech balances the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Silicon Valley has Boston and its biotechnology as a counterweight.
New York is a big blue state (Democratic), just as is California. New York’s JFK International Airport has Ronald Reagan as a counterweight. San Francisco is what New York is to the East Coast.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
A visit to the US is not complete without hopping to California. My first attraction was technology and innovation, just like our Big 5 and sandy beaches.
These are natural California attractions, whereas manmade attractions are a product of human ingenuity and innovation. Like the visit to New England, I made a few observations.
One is from the air, after overflying Oregon into California, the greenery slowly turned into a desert.
But Californians have tamed the desert into total submission using water from the northern part and the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east.
Irrigated farmlands on the edge of the desert produce fruits and other foods for the hungry nation.
I remembered the Central and Napa valleys in our high school geography. Is that where we got our inspiration to be global?
What topics are in high school geography today? Curiously, agriculture is one of the leading industries in California, but is drowned in publicity by high tech.
From the air, the circular Apple Inc. headquarters was visible, just like farmlands, highways and railway termini.
Farmlands break into Silicon Valley and its hallowed institutions and firms. Could that be a good model for Kenya, too?
Two, the first advert I saw on getting out of the airport in San Jose was for San Jose State University.
What adverts do you see first in our airports? That tells you something about the character of the state or region. I did not see any advert for beer or soda on my intellectual pilgrimage.
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
We visited two companies – Google and Facebook (Meta). Our host at Google was a Kenyan, a former student of Koelel High School in Gilgil.
Having used Gmail for 19 years, this was a worthy visit and an eye-opener. I should have visited Google earlier in my career. Read on to find out why.
The original Google building, made of bricks mimicking elite universities, still stands. We started our visit with lunch. It’s free for guests and Google workers, and it’s a buffet. Why would Google provide free food to its workers?
That makes economic sense. How would one expect Google workers to come up with the next generation of innovations, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) products like Gemini, if they are thinking of hunger first?
One can take breakfast, lunch and dinner there. You can he sure the cost of food is easily covered by higher productivity and innovations. What excuse would one give for not being productive?
Giving workers food is not a new idea. The colonial government provided its workers with food. Remember posho and rations?
A few companies, like Osho Chemicals in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, give food to their workers. Like Google, the colonialists got their productivity.
I noted the diversity of the workforce as we toured the Google buildings. That is another catalyst for innovations.
Yet our counties want to be “pure.” I saw no armed policemen or guards in the Google complex. And no one checked if we had stolen something when leaving.
Think of the value of Google assets, both physical and intellectual; yet, we find it hard to access companies and institutions in debt!
Walking through Google buildings, it was clear the firm has blurred the border between work and leisure. The workspace is designed for freedom, with no traditional office cubicles.
Instead, it has sofas, open spaces, and coffee everywhere. And why not? Thinking is Google’s key asset, and you can think anywhere, even in sleep.
To a Kenyan used to the 8-5pm and clocking in and out, that was enlightening. The Google model has worked.
It’s market capitalisation. We seem to spend more time watching over employees than letting them work. Give them targets and let them figure out the means to achieve that; how else do you make them creative and innovative?
It’s another question if we pay our thinkers and innovators well enough for their work.
Four, as we shifted from one Google building to another, we took a driverless car owned by Waymo, a Google company.
The car is a Jaguar. The trip cost us $17 (Sh2,193). It was fun! You call the car through the phone (like Uber), it stops, and you sit, relax and ride to your destination.
I sat next to an empty driver’s seat and watched the car drive itself with passengers in the back.
It respected traffic lights, overtook other cars and changed lanes. I loudly wondered what would happen to all the drivers and driving schools once these cars became widespread.
And they are in San Francisco City as taxis. For once, I appreciated Arthur Clarke, the science fiction writer’s comment that “advanced technology and magic are indistinguishable.”
Despite driverless cars, there are lots of bicycles for the workers in Google buildings. They are painted in Google colours! This is a clear lesson that, despite advances in technology, we remain human.
It’s also sentimental for those who can ride a bike. It could also be part of greenness and a sign of freedom.
Bikes give you more freedom in motion than cars, but walking gives you even more freedom. Freedom and innovation go together.
The Google key building, where the driverless car took us, looks like a tent and mimics the mountains in the background.
The roof is made of solar panels, innovations everywhere. Across the street is the NASA Ames Research Centre. Do they cooperate with Google?
While leaving Google, I felt we needed to start a unit in our universities called Googlogy 101 to explore how innovations are nurtured and commercialised.
Next week: Meta, Stanford and key lessons from Silicon Valley.
Follow The Standard
channel
on WhatsApp
By XN Iraki