What to do had you to make the choice Google faced regarding business in China? Certainly they had to figure that if they declined China's conditions some competitor would accept. It's not as if the Chinese web surfers would lose anything if Google was available, even with restrictions.
Here's what I would do if I were in charge in Mountain View; I'd accept the restrictions the government put on searches in order to ensure Google remains available to people in China. But I'd do every subtle and sneaky thing I could to undermine the restrictions.
Of course, as king of Google there's no way I could reveal my scheme publicly, so I would have to endure the wrath of freedom loving netizens everywhere, and deal with some bad publicity.
Posted by Walter at January 26, 2006 04:01 PMI take it you found a working keyboard, which is good.
I realize that Google now has to answer to stockholders, but it's not clear to me that this means that their fiduciary duty means they have to compete in China, no matter the vast lost of potential problems if they chose not to.
It helps to preview. Trying again: no matter the vast loss of potential profits.
Posted by: Gary Farber at January 27, 2006 09:08 PM