PC Authority speaks to key Googlists about world-beating software, the bleeding edge of Internet technology and life in the Googleplex.
At the official launch of the recently completed Google Mapplets technology, PC Authority attended a show-and-tell session for the mainstream press. We were able to speak to the Google Mapplets engineers, the three-man powerhouse who brought the technology to life.
Google Australia software engineers Ben Appleton (Technical Lead), James Macgill and Adam Schuck are three self-effacing characters with a confident air that comes with creating products for the world’s foremost Internet search company. Like all highly competent engineers, they’re modest about their achievements.
Take Google Mapplets, for example. “This started as twenty percent time,” said Appleton, referring to the weekly flexible time during work hours that Google developers are given to pursue experimental projects. In this case, Appleton’s twenty percent time spawned a major innovation for Google. “(with Mapplets)… we’re allowing a lot of creative & bright people out there to display their data on a map,” said Appleton.
Engineering roles at Google are fuzzily defined. “We don’t have business cards, but if we did, they’d all say Software Engineer,” said Appleton. Google engineers who show enthusiasm and innovation are given resources to take their ideas further, and technical leads who complete successful products are given a monetary bonus, as in this case.
“We have this philosophy at Google, where we just come up with great ideas, and later on we say ‘how do we make money from this?’,” explained Appleton. “As an engineer, it’s fantastic,” added Macgill. Still, it isn’t just an experimental free-for all in the Googleplex during the regular ‘eighty percent time’. “Everyone at Google works on productising,” said Appleton.
The tedious work of ‘making the money’ falls to Google employees such as Jeremy Wood, Advertising Product Specialist. “… I work in monetising,” he said, opening his presentation on the new Local Business Ads.
For more on Google Maps and Google Mapplets, see PC Authority's coverage from the Australian Google Developer Day in Sydney:
Behind Google Mapplets and Google Gears
PC Authority interview with Lars Rasmussen, Senior Engineer on Google Maps
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| Google staff drink Nudie juice. |
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| The famous Google food buffet and pool table with city skyline views. |