Googlers are crazy, crazy enough to try a lot of things. Buzz and Wave flopped, while
Instant has saved humanity almost one million hours each day with faster search. Their Nexus One phone flopped, while the Android took off, selling even faster than the iPhone.
Google is full of opportunists, tinkerers and experimental designers. If there is method to their madness, many don't see it. They
rent goats to mow their lawns and created a
driverless car. It's clear people don't buy everything Google does, but what
do we buy?
Would we buy a car from the kings of search?
What could Google's approach to superficial simplicity and under-the-hood complexity create if they follow through with their car?
Neat, but is this even a good idea? Google's design principles leave open the possibility for a cool car to happen around here somewhere. Whether people trust it or find Google's aesthetic design sexy enough for an automobile is another story. Imagining a Google car kind of forces us to ask whether we really believe in what Google says they believe in.
But maybe Google knows something we don't. In an age when no business can rest on its laurels for very long, maybe they recognize their next big hit will be a product innovation far from their current business. Perhaps their approach of maximum tinkering will help them stumble on that game-changing product before anybody else. But will people buy it?