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A comment on The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these two images. Parent comment

Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by 51Cards on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @05:22PM (#4044959)
The one little thought I would add to that is that when Google first started working on a self driving car everyone went "WTF is a search company doing..". Now, X years later... it's a different story. People have started to really think about self-driving vehicles and autonomous travel. I don't see Glass at this point... but I didn't see practical self driving cars 6 years ago either, let alone states licensing them.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by StavrosK on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @06:02PM (#4045137)
Google isn't a search company, it's an AI/ML company.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by johno215 on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @06:54PM (#4045310)
It certainly seems to be the focus of their long term R&D spending. The ML part, of course, has always been a central part of their business due to its importance for search and ad targeting.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by zitterbewegung on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @11:06PM (#4046122)
Google is currently an Ad company that drives you to those ads using AI/ML.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by aptwebapps on Thursday May 31, 2012 @01:11AM (#4046500)
And someday soon they may literally drive you to their advertisers using AI/ML ...
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by mkr-hn on Thursday May 31, 2012 @06:55AM (#4047381)
Cable box popups in the near future: "Press OK on your remote to go to Pizza Hut."

You'll give your car the order on the way, and it'll contact the local Pizza Hut's system to place it.

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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by freiheit on Thursday May 31, 2012 @12:37PM (#4048885)
And 3M was once a sandpaper company, who expanded "applying coatings to backings" into quite a few things.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by 51Cards on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @07:17PM (#4045374)
Very true, but when they started working on a driver-less car in 2006, they were still thought of as a search company. They hadn't yet bought Youtube or DoubleClick.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by netvarun on Thursday May 31, 2012 @03:07AM (#4046781)
Google isn't an AI/ML company, it's an ad platform company.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by mmccomb on Thursday May 31, 2012 @03:19AM (#4046807)
But Google didn't start life that way - they were born a search company. That's what I find so interesting about Facebook at present, here they are, investment in hand and a world of opportunity. From here on in they can choose their own path and focus on whatever they like - just as Google have had the opportunity to do.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by sopooneo on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @08:45PM (#4045698)
Google itself didn't help, so could you? What is AI/ML? I suppose the AI part is artificial intelligence?
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by cpenner461 on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @08:48PM (#4045711)
I think you're right for AI, and I'd gander Machine Learning for the other.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by robinsloan on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @05:36PM (#4045033)
Author here: I'm with you. The steady success of the self-driving cars has made me take some of these other projects much, much more seriously.

Maybe it's simply the Thrun factor?

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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by vibrunazo on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @06:10PM (#4045171)
> Maybe it's simply the Thrun factor?

That man's track record of amazing projects is really jaw dropping. Self driving cars, udacity and glass? I want a planet with more people like that in it.

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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by clarky07 on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @11:40PM (#4046231)
We have one. Sadly half of them are working at Facebook trying to figure out how to make people click on more ads. The other half are working in the non research part of google trying to figure out how to make people click on more ads.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by eru on Thursday May 31, 2012 @12:07AM (#4046315)
You forgot Goldman Sachs.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by btipling on Thursday May 31, 2012 @02:29AM (#4046685)
It's because they have to eat.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by mechnik on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @07:57PM (#4045531)
Exciting stuff. Sebastian might be staying up late working on the 'Milk and Cookies' humanoid android release.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by ajross on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @05:32PM (#4045012)
Oh, I'm willing to be surprised. And I'm willing to give Google a lot more benefit of the doubt than I am most entities at being able to execute on this stuff. But still... Glass? Seriously?
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by DannoHung on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @05:45PM (#4045079)
Why seriously? Why build a web browser? If Chrome is to make the web a better platform for serving ads, then Glass is to make you a better platform for receiving ads. And in the process, they trade you some utility for being a marketing sponge.

And also push computer vision and pervasive HCI further forward. Sort of a weird deal, but overall... not wholly awful. Those patents will expire eventually!

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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by 51Cards on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @05:42PM (#4045063)
Agreed as it sits now... but maybe the current form factor is the limit of today's technology. And maybe the insights they get from even attempting to develop that kind of interface puts them 5 years ahead when someone invents a holographic projector that clips onto your shirt collar. But if you don't even try it, then you don't even get the "maybe".
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by JVIDEL on Wednesday May 30, 2012 @11:11PM (#4046136)
We don't have the technology to make volumetric holograms, the closest thing is some persistence of vision-like system made by a Japanese company that's very low-res and can make you blind if you stand too close to it.
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Re:The futures of Facebook and Google are embedded in these ... by wisty on Thursday May 31, 2012 @07:20AM (#4047433)
How many google ads do you see on your phone? How many google ads would you see if they were in your HUD glasses?
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