Although I watched the entire Google I/O Day Keynote, I didn't feel the passion to write down my thoughts immediately. Everything was reasonable; there was no disappointment, but no surprise either. It's not that there wasn't anything new, but rather that all the new things followed a linear extrapolation of the past and met my "needs"—it just didn't reach the level of excitement that makes one's thoughts soar instantly.
So, I let it cool for more than a day.
When looking back at the Keynote video to extract some highlights, I suddenly realized where the problem lay: I need to spend a long time considering how each product and feature introduced by Google would change my workflow and what the relationships between them are, just as I can't remember the product managers who kept coming on stage to give introductions or demonstrations.
Of course, we want a General Artificial Intelligence that can autonomously complete many tasks we assign while remaining obedient to our commands. If we settle for the next best thing, an AI Agent, then we hope it is at least simple, even foolproof.
I have always believed in Google's strength and admired its vision. But when you throw a group of geniuses into an environment with extremely detailed job descriptions and highly cautious risk preferences, there is almost no solution other than letting them wear down in confusion and clash through internal friction.
I subscribe to many of Google's services, like a massive workbench covered with all kinds of tools. It suits a nerd like me because facing it gives me a sense of freedom.
However, I believe it doesn't suit the vast majority of users.
Most of the time, we might just want to hold our phones and solve problems through conversation, just like GPT-4o demonstrated a day earlier.
Technically, Google could achieve this too, if it were willing to cut 90% of its business and staff.
So, since everyone has high-level models now, let's see who can build the best product. The same question applies to the comparison between the Android camp and iOS.
Perhaps what we can look forward to now are the details of an upcoming partnership announcement between the best pure-model company and the best consumer electronics company.