谷歌的“专注”之惑

    尽管如此，但Box公司的CEO李维在一次采访中还是认为，谷歌要想与那些只专注少数几件事的公司竞争，恐怕会很艰难。比如他自己的公司七年来只专注于在线文件储存业务，谷歌三个月前也推出了一款竞争性产品，但是当企业客户考虑到谷歌还有好几十项其它服务，他们还能信任谷歌对这个领域的付出吗？还能对谷歌在这个领域的创新意愿抱有信心吗？

    最后，李维先生表示，谷歌的“把更多木头安在更少的箭头后面”的战略事实上已经变成了“更多木头和更多箭头”。

    李维先生也赞扬了谷歌对一些惊人的高新技术的试验，比如上文提到的可以上网的谷歌眼镜。这种产品可以在全行业范围内起到激励创新的作用，不管它上市之后最终是否取得成功——这款眼镜可能将在2014年上市（不过开发者们明年就能拿到手）。

    Robert W Baird公司的分析师科林•塞巴斯蒂安对谷歌的产品线扩张持较支持的态度。他也承认谷歌的胃口太大了，但是“在互联网上竞争要求企业必须不断变革。”

    对谷歌来说，这意味着它在最新的Nexus 7平板电脑、Nexus Q家庭娱乐播放器和最新款的Nexus Galaxy智能手机上下了很大的赌注。这并不是谷歌第一次卖硬件，但却是最雄心勃勃的一次。毕竟就像塞巴斯蒂安所说，在与苹果和亚马逊的竞争中，卖硬件已经成了非常重要的一环。不过他说，谷歌最新的企业计算服务“计算引擎”（Compute Engine）是另一回事。企业可以利用这项服务进行数据计算，而谷歌要做的只是利用它现有的基础架构即可，除了营销以外，不需要进行任何重大投资。

    不过总的来说，带领一家公司朝着一个新的方向迈进从来都不是一件容易的事。谷歌最近力推硬件更是一场豪赌，尤其是谷歌最近刚刚以125亿美元收购了摩托罗拉（Motorola），这也是谷歌有史以来花费最大的一笔收购。塞巴斯蒂安说：“值得表扬的是，我认为拉里•佩奇的确已经使公司专注了起来。他不害怕做出重大决策。”

    译者：朴成奎

    Still, Mr. Levie, from Box, said in an interview that Google will have a hard time competing against companies focused on just a few things. He pointed to online file storage, which his company has focused on exclusively for seven years. Google introduced a competing product three months ago. Can corporate customers really be confident about Google's commitment to the space and its willingness to innovate when it has dozens of other competing initiatives, he asked？

    In the end, Mr. Levie said that Google's "more wood behind fewer arrows" strategy has become "more wood and more arrows."

    Mr. Levie applauded Google for its experimentation with gee-whiz technology like Google Glass, which brings the Internet to people wearing eyeglasses via their lenses. Such products help inspire innovation industry-wide, regardless of whether Google's glasses ultimately succeed after they go on sale to consumers, perhaps in 2014 (developers, however, can get them next year).

    Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Robert W Baird & Co., was more supportive of Google's expanding product portfolio. Yes, Google has a lot on its plate, he said. But "competing on the Internet requires constant change."

    For Google, that means placing a big bet on its new Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q home entertainment hub along with its latest phone, the Nexus Galaxy. It's not Google's first time selling hardware. But it is its most ambitious. In the end, selling hardware has become critical to competing against Apple and Amazon (AMZN), Mr. Sebastian said.

    Google's new corporate computing service, Compute Engine, is another matter, he said. Companies would use the service to take care of their data crunching. All Google is doing is leveraging its existing infrastructure that is uses for its computing needs, Mr. Sebastian said. No significant investment is necessary except for marketing.

    Broadly speaking, though, taking a company into a new direction is never made easily. Google's latest push into hardware was a particularly big gamble considering it came only after acquiring Motorola for $12.5 billion, the most Google has ever paid for a company. "To his credit, I do think Larry Page has focused the company," Mr. Sebastian said. "He's not afraid to make the big decisions."