Monday, April 09, 2012

Google's Search for Clean Energy - Technology Review

A Google energy snapshot

“The truth was Google's eclectic bets on potentially disruptive energy innovations never got very far. Take PowerMeter, another canceled project. The software was meant to help homeowners monitor their energy use. Energy entrepreneur Kurt Brown says it had a major flaw: "Their interface was for nerds. It was something mostly a smart Googler would be intrigued by."

The cancelled plans show the hazards of believing that success in computing—where products can take days to prototype—can carry over to energy. "The IT attitude is great when combined with humility with what is possible," says Jonathan Koomey, an expert on the environmental effects of computing at Stanford University. "But if you think you are going to overhaul the whole energy industry overnight, just because you did it in software—that is false, that is hubris."”

Google's Search for Clean Energy - Technology Review

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