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Interesting anecdote about the Android acquisition: Larry and Sergey bought the company without telling Eric Schmidt about it[1]. Google moved into the mobile market on a whim.

Google's strategy seem a lot more planned and methodical from the outside.

[1] From a Schmidt press conference last year: "Android purchase, he didn’t even notice Larry and Sergey bought it." - http://searchengineland.com/live-blogging-sergey-brin-eric-s...

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For some reason, that doesn't really surprise me. I mean, GMail was basically a whim, and I kinda got that same feeling when Wave came out. The Android acquisition could just be considered like a 20% project, but scaled to the CEO level.

That might just be the kind of thing you have to say when your on the board of a rival smartphone manufacturer at the time your company starts planning a rival.

Apple wasn't yet a smartphone maker at the time of the Android purchase (this was 2005, the iPhone didn't come out until 2007).

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