Google Hires Vint Cerf

Vint Cerf, aka "the father of the internet," was just hired by Google. The monikor refers to the fact that he co-authored the TCP/IP protocol, which connected independent networks of computers together to form the internet. Cerf’s position at Google will entail him helping the company "develop new architectures, systems and standards for a next generation of applications that would likely run across the Internet." Some recent comments he’s made, as referenced in a CNet article, imply he is interested in the geographically indexed data, such as what’s provided by Google Earth and Google Maps. Perhaps he will be writing a new protocol to take the data provided by these services and provide it to mobile devices?

It seems Google has been investing in a communications infrastructure for some time now (maybe this is why they needed to go public and then raise another 4.2 million recently?) The company has been buying up dark fiber. Also, they invested in Current Communications, a company providing internet access over power lines.They have partnered with a company called Feeva in an effort to test the delivery of advertising over Wi-Fi networks. And this year, Google acquired Android, a start-up rumored to be working on an operating system for mobile devices. Reading between the lines here, I’m wondering if Google is up to something BIG. A Google ISP could be on the horizon!