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Prominent Google product manager RJ Pittman leaves to join to Apple

Monday, March 15, 2010 · 11:26 am · 19 Comments

“The battle between Google and Apple continues. RJ Pittman, a prominent product manager at Google, has left the company to join Apple,” Jason Kincaid reports for TechCrunch.

Kincaid reports, “We’ve been tipped off to a tweet he sent out two days ago that said, ‘My last day at Google. Incredible experience. Amazing people. Moved mountains. Next chapter. Hello Apple.’”

Full article here.

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19 Comments

daugav369pils

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:33 am · Reply

Get the mattresses we’re at war.
breeze

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:37 am · Reply

Google would serve itself better rethinking it’s recent moves and by making good on an honorable and trustworthy alliance with Apple – It’s still early in enough to make amends and save it’s ass from a serious kicking.
Ebster

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:39 am · Reply

How do you know that he is not a spy?
He could learn stuff and then rejoin Google.
ron

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:48 am · Reply

Google – Double agent.
MidWest Mac

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:49 am · Reply

Someone needs to explain to me how Google makes its money off of Android so that I can understand this whole thing better.

They give away the OS, I’m pretty sure. So their money is driven by how the OS leads customers to its services — something it could have done through all of the existing OSes out there (very notably and currently the iPhone).

I think that in the end Google will end up cutting off its nose to spite its face. In other words, Apple will either find other software vendors to supply its map and search apps or develop competing services of its own. So Google will end up dominating 50 percent of the mobile market in these areas when it could have had its software on 100 percent. Stupid, stupid decision.

And if you don’t think there’s a Skunkworks search project going on at Apple right now you’re nuts. You invade our core business, we invade yours. Steve’s probably standing over the shoulder of someone who’s working on a search algorithm as I type this.
Sir Gill Bates

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 12:22 pm · Reply

Don’t worry about Apple hiring a Google double-agent. I’ve heard that Steve himself supervises the polygraph, truth serum, and waterboarding initiation process. Too bad this wasn’t used on the board of directors.
R2

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 12:37 pm · Reply

That’s one handsome chap. Not that I’m looking or anything.
Cubert

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 12:45 pm · Reply

Obligatory “This is huge!!!” comment.
PorradaVFR

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 12:53 pm · Reply

Isn’t he the guy that developed the Urban Sombrero™?
KingMel

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 1:23 pm · Reply

@R2
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
deepdish

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 1:49 pm · Reply

I don’t trust him. I want to be happy about this, but google pretends to be a white knight, but they play dirty. Heck, their own CEO was a spy.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 1:54 pm · Reply

Smert’ Shpionam- russian to death to spy
ois

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:05 pm · Reply

It’s smart of Pittman to leave the Google sinking ship and its bridge-burner, backstabber captain Schmidt while there’s still time. Expect many of Pittman’s colleagues to follow his lead.

Google total defeat and humiliation by the Chinese is the mortal blow that marks the beginning of the end for the company. At over 90% of the search market that accounts for about 100% of their revenue, there is no more room for Google to grow, except in China with its enormous potential awaiting for the take.

True to his cheating, stealing and backstabbing nature, Schmidt thought he could bully the Chinese into submission by pulling a stupid stunt designed to publicly humiliate the Chinese while playing the victim card to bring world’s attention and pressure to bear on the Chinese at the same time. Well, Schmidt barks up the wrong tree with his evil scheme and burns all bridges to Google future earnings this time.

The one thing you never do in Asian culture is to cause another person to lose face or bring humiliation to him and his family in public – he would rather die than go through it. The Chinese decision to kick Google out is therefore fully expected and irreversible. Schmidt gives them no way out with his stupid public stunt due to his incompetence and lack of understanding of business etiquette and culture in China.

If you think the Chinese will stop at Google search, think again. They will systematically dismantle any products that have anything to do with Google and discourage business dealings with any companies that use or sell Google products. Google can forget about Android in China. How soon do you think Motorola, LG, and others will drop Android if their products are blocked or discouraged from use by the Chinese? Not soon enough given the fragmented mess that Android is (and getting worse by the day) and the backstabbing by Google with HTC N1. Schmidt, get it through your head – it does not pay to cheat, steal, and back stab your friends and partners.
R2

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:13 pm · Reply

@KingMel,

Of course not.
macslut

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:51 pm · Reply

@MidWest Mac,

Google’s strategy is that they can make big bucks with mobile services…specifically ads placed in the mobile services. Google was (is) well positioned on the iPhone, but you really don’t want to be that dependent on a partner. Furthermore, the iPhone can’t possibly reach 100% market share. At best, the “theoretical” max would be somewhere along the lines of the iPod, or somewhat lower given carrier exclusivity and corporate policies.

So what Google was afraid of was that Microsoft would get the non-iPhone business either through their own mobile OS, or compete with services on other mobile OSs, even potentially the iPhone.

So Google throws some money at developing Android, and then owns both the iPhone services it’s involved in and well as (what may eventually be) a large chunk of the non-iPhone services.

This need not turn into a war…yet.

I could really see Apple invading Google’s space. Apple already has many of Google’s services and could throw money at developing the rest. Apple wouldn’t have to “kill” Google, just simply get their semi-captive audience on the iPhone/iPad/Safari, and Apple would bring in billions of dollars at even a fraction of the market share.
MEES

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 2:57 pm · Reply

I don’t know why Apple and Google need to be at war. I understand Apple’s uneasiness with Google jumping into an mobile OS platform copying much of Apple’s ideas. Perhaps Google wanted to be a bigger player in Apple’s business and perhaps felt jaded or hurt but these two are better as partners than enemies. Google should just stick to its search and map business.

Second, Apple secrets are secrets even within Apple. For your eyes only exists in Apple so Pittman won’t know about what is secretly being developed in Apple’s “Area 51.”
rubber Johnny

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 5:15 pm · Reply

For AAPL’s sake Apple, enter Search.
It is the only permanent killer app on all platforms and all devices.
Do search = instant terror, shock and awe.
pdxflint

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 8:34 pm · Reply

I can remember way back when Sherlock on my old system 8.6 Mac could do internet searches better than all the other search engines at the time, Alta-Vista, Excite, Netscape and all those early search sites and portals. It was local, and put up search results right on my desktop… click and go. That was a gazillion tech years ago… I don’t see any reason they couldn’t get into search… google doesn’t own it, that’s for sure. And google’s quickly losing it’s original appeal, simplicity–actually, it’s already lost it pretty much completely.
MacBeliever

Monday, March 15, 2010 - 10:18 pm · Reply

Sherlock shock &awe;!