Modern kids easily master computer technology. Laptops, tablets and smartphones have long become familiar items in everyday life. Older people remember well the bulky and inefficient computers that occupied large areas. The rapid development of microelectronic technologies and computational methods can be compared with magic. One of these “wizards” is called Eric Schmidt. This name is almost unfamiliar to Russian citizens. At the same time, almost everyone knows the Google search engine.
Basics and Prerequisites
The creation of computers, scientists and engineers have been engaged since ancient times. The simplest device for performing four arithmetic operations was abacus. Externally, this device was a wooden frame, with fixed metal knitting needles. And knuckles were strung on knitting needles. Eric Schmid, whose ancestors lived in Germany, saw such a "computer" with his grandfather. The boy was born on April 27, 1955 in a family of teachers. Father gave lectures on economics to students of the Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg. Mother taught at the same educational institution.
Parents meticulously instilled in Erik useful habits and skills. The biography of the future CEO of Google Corporation says that he lived for several years in Bologna. It so happened that my father was offered a contract with a local university, and he moved to Italy for a period of cooperation. Schmidt, looking at the elders, dreamed of a career as a teacher. In 1971 he graduated from high school and began to prepare for military service. It is important to note that in the school curriculum much attention was paid to programming. In fact, a graduate could work as a middle-aged programmer in any company.
For reasons beyond his control, Eric was not drafted into the army, and, having lost a year, he entered the University of Princeton. In 1976 he completed his studies and received the qualification of a bachelor of electrical devices and devices. By that time, there was an intensive growth in the production of computer hardware and software. It is only natural that Schmidt decided to receive additional education in this field of activity. In 1979, he received a diploma and the title of Master of Computer Engineering. Three years later, the young scientist defended his thesis and became a doctor of computer technology.
The dry lines of the reports conceal the intense work and creativity of a person who is passionate about his work. Eric Schmidt proposed an original form of organization for creating software products. He convincingly proved that there is no need to assemble qualified specialists in one room and even in one building. They can be located in separate rooms and even at home. Yes, it was one of the options of a "distributed in space environment" that is created in order to solve a particular problem. Today this system is known all over the planet and is called the Internet. It is interesting to note that Schmidt made the first computer network based on university facilities with his own hands and wrote software for it.
Creating a search engine
There are several large companies in the computer technology market. Today, such structures are called "players." Practice shows that the struggle for their market sector is fierce and uncompromising. For a long period of time, Eric Schmid held senior positions at Sun Technology, leading the development of the Java programming language. Today, the famous Java scripts are known to programmers in all countries where the Internet operates. This is just a small part of those products that were created under the direction of Dr. Schmidt.
Leading specialists who are able to manage large-scale projects in the labor market are not common. The specifics of creating reliable software need to know thoroughly. In the spring of 2001, Schmidt was invited to Google by the chairman of the board. At that time, intensive work was underway to create their own search engine. It is important to note that the invited specialist was older than the founders and owners of the company. Moreover, he had enormous experience, which Google specialists and managers lacked. The results were not long in coming.
Today one may be surprised at such a pace, but already in 2004, the Google search engine began to compete effectively with existing systems. The contribution of Dr. Schmidt to the development of the corporation is difficult to overestimate. During the first decade of the 21st century, a wide range of products were created under the new brand, without which it is difficult to imagine the modern Internet. The free email service Gmail is considered the most reliable among analogues. More than half of visitors use the Google Chrome browser. Schmitt timely caught the appearance of a new trend, as a result of which the operating system for smartphones appeared on the market.
The YouTube video service also became the property of Google. Eric Schmidt served on Apple’s board of directors for several years. However, this form of cooperation did not bring the expected results. The reason is that companies operate in the same market sector. The so-called conflict of interest arises at every step. After three years, the cooperation had to be curtailed.
