Google CEO Joins Apple Board of Directors

Apple on Tuesday said that Google CEO Eric Schmidt was elected to its board of directors. Dr. Schmidt also sits on Google's board of directors and Princeton University's board of trustees. He was previously chairman and CEO at Novell and CTO at Sun Microsystems.

"Eric is obviously doing a terrific job as CEO of Google, and we look forward to his contributions as a member of Apple's board of directors," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a press release. "Like Apple, Google is very focused on innovation and we think Eric's insights and experience will be very valuable in helping to guide Apple in the years ahead."

"Apple is one of the companies in the world that I most admire," Dr. Schmidt added. "I'm really looking forward to working with Steve and Apple's board to help with all of the amazing things Apple is doing."

www.apple.com/pr

This was unexpected (for me at least). Maybe more Google integration with Leopard :D

It's looking more like Google/Apple vs Microsoft now..Interesting matchup!!

This is GREAT news. :D

It's looking more like Google/Apple vs Microsoft now..Interesting matchup!!

I wonder how much Apple will have Google's services integrated into its OS.

Earlier in the year, we heard that Apple would be creating its own maps feature - maybe, they will just be integrating Google Maps into its OS...

What does this mean for iChat? That, too, could be integrated with Google's Messenger program.

Gmail and Mail cooperation? Maybe that'll be worked on (as it's not too great at present).

My only hope is that iChat will eventually work with MSN Messenger - I know that there are a lot of people on this board who would love to see this happen.

Windows Live vs. Google.
Microsoft vs. Apple.

Interesting indeed :) .

It's looking more like Google/Apple vs Microsoft now..Interesting matchup!!

Yea, But I would probably put more at Google/Apple Vs Microsoft/Yahoo! because Microsoft was thinking of buying Yahoo! and it is integrating it in Windows Live (messenger etc).

With Google being a huge leader in Internet services it will help Apple's Image and promotion in some way. It may even lead to better .Mac services and Google apps etc.

Just playful thinking! lol

I see this as a good move. Google seems to be filled with innovative ideas and has a creative mindset, similar to Apple's, so I see this as being a good fit.

This is good news on so many fronts...provides a nice avenue for collaborations between the two companies, while hopefully reducing competition. That's not to say Google won't compete against Apple, but I'd think there would be more discussion and exchange of ideas that would help both companies.

This is good news on so many fronts...provides a nice avenue for collaborations between the two companies, while hopefully reducing competition. That's not to say Google won't compete against Apple, but I'd think there would be more discussion and exchange of ideas that would help both companies.

This in effect keeps Google from competing with Apple.As long as the Google CEO stays CEO of Google and is on Apple's Board there would be a conflict of interest in so many areas Google won't be competing against Apple for a long time.

This makes one more vote for good support of Java technology in Mac OS X, since Dr. Schmidt led the Java development group at Sun.