Modern children easily master computer technology. Laptops, tablets and smartphones have long become common objects in everyday life. Older people remember well the bulky and low-performance computers that took up large areas. The rapid development of microelectronic technology and computational methods can be compared to magic. One of these "wizards" is called Eric Schmidt. This name is almost unknown to Russian citizens. At the same time, almost everyone knows the search engine "Google".
Basics and prerequisites
Scientists and engineers have been developing computers for a long time. The simplest device for performing four arithmetic operations was abacus. Outwardly, this device was a wooden frame with fixed metal spokes. And knuckles were strung on the knitting needles. Eric Schmid, whose ancestors lived in Germany, saw such a "calculating machine" at his grandfather's. The boy was born on April 27, 1955 in a family of teachers. My father lectured on economics to students at the Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg. Mother taught at the same educational institution.
Eric's parents meticulously instilled good habits and skills. The biography of the future CEO of Google Corporation says that he lived in Bologna for several years. It so happened that my father was offered a contract with a local university, and he moved to Italy for a period of cooperation. Schmidt, looking at his elders, dreamed of a career as a teacher. In 1971 he graduated from high school and began to prepare for military service. It is important to note that in the school curriculum, a lot of attention was paid to programming. In fact, a graduate could work as an average programmer in any company.
For reasons beyond his control, Eric was not drafted into the army, and after losing a year, he entered the University of Princeton. In 1976 he completed his studies and received a bachelor's degree in electrical devices and instruments. By that time, there was an intensive growth in the production of computer hardware and software. It is quite natural that Schmidt decided to get additional education in this field of activity. In 1979 he received a diploma and a master's degree in computer engineering. Three years later, the young scientist defended his dissertation and became a doctor of computing technology.
The dry lines of the reports hide the intense work and creativity of a person who is passionate about his work. Eric Schmidt proposed an original form of organization for creating software products. He convincingly proved that there is no need to gather qualified specialists in one room or even in one building. They can be located in separate offices and even at home. Yes, it was one of the variants of a "distributed in space environment", which is created in order to solve a particular problem. Today this system is known all over the planet and is called the Internet. It is interesting to note that Schmidt designed the first computer network based on university facilities with his own hands and wrote software support for it.
Search engine creation
Several large companies operate on the computer technology market. Today such structures are called “players”. Practice shows that the fight for your market sector is being tough and uncompromising. For a long time, Eric Schmid held positions of responsibility at Sun Technology, leading the development of the Java programming language. Today the famous Java scripts are known to programmers in all countries where the Internet operates. This is just a small part of the products that were created under the leadership of Dr. Schmidt.
Leading specialists capable of managing large-scale projects are rare in the labor market. You need to know thoroughly the specifics of creating reliable software. In the spring of 2001, Schmidt was invited to join Google as chairman of the board of directors. At that time, intensive work was underway here to create its own search engine. It is important to note that the invited specialist was older than the founders and owners of the company. Moreover, he possessed a wealth of experience that Google specialists and managers lacked. The results were not long in coming.
Today one can be surprised at such a rate, but already in 2004 the search engine "Google" began to effectively compete with the existing systems. It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Dr. Schmidt to the development of the corporation. During the first decade of the 21st century, a wide range of products were created under the new brand, without which it is difficult to imagine the modern Internet. The free email service Gmail is considered the most reliable among its counterparts. More than half of the visitors use the Google Chrome browser. Schmitt caught the emergence of a new trend in a timely manner, as a result of which an operating system for smartphones appeared on the market.
The YouTube video service has also become the property of Google. Eric Schmidt served on the Apple Board of Directors for several years. However, this form of cooperation did not bring the expected results. The reason is that companies operate in the same market sector. A so-called conflict of interest arises at every turn. After three years, the cooperation had to be curtailed.
Charity and leisure
Outside of his professional career, Dr. Schmidt leads the ordinary life of a good citizen of the United States. In Eric's personal life, nothing extravagant or revolutionary happens. I got married only once. Husband and wife spare no time in raising children and are affectionate towards their grandchildren. The wife's name is Wendy. She is engaged in charity work. Purposefully for these purposes, a special "Schmidt Family Fund" was established.
In addition to financing the family foundation, Eric pays attention and financially supports the Academy of Sciences and Arts. In his spare time, he likes long-distance jogging. He knows how to fly a light aircraft - he has a pilot's license.
