I've been in a hotel basement in Brooklyn all day, so getting the news of the changes at Alphabet (formerly known as Google) a whole twenty-eight minutes late came as a shock to me. The barrage of messages I received upon resurfaced was a slightly overwhelming. I have since gone from confusion to a crystal clear understanding very quickly.
Larry Page, Alphabet CEO, writes:
"For Sergey and me this is a very exciting new chapter in the life of Google -- the birth of Alphabet. We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for! I should add that we are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products--the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands."
What is abundantly clear about this headline catching move is this transition has been in the cards for at least two years. Sundar Pichai was already running the core of Google since his promotion last year, so his elevation comes as no surprise. Nor does Larry and Sergey's monsterous ambition to be "cleaner" and more efficient at making great strides come as a shock. They want to change the world in more ways than with software and computer hardware. Drones, cars, health, robotics, and many other twenty first century ambitions are all apart of this plan. Google isn't dying or being striped of its parts, its just becoming a big old diverse and ambitious family.