Google Exec Chairman Eric Schmidt Makes His Tech Predictions for 2014

As the head of one of the world’s largest tech companies, Google’s Eric Schmidt holds considerable influence over the industry. In spite of that fact, his tech predictions haven’t always come true. One of Schmidt’s most infamous tech predictions was that Google TV would be embedded on the majority of TVs before summer 2012 (that prediction was made at the end of 2011, less than a year before it was supposed to come true). Other infamous Eric Schmidt mis-predictions include underestimating the importance of social media (which is why Google+ was so late to the show). So what I’m trying to say is that Eric Schmidt is no Nostradamus. Maybe that’s why he starts this year’s list of tech predictions with something so obvious and easy: “Everyone is going to have a smartphone. The trend has been mobile was winning; it’s now won.” Uhh, someone could have made that prediction in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 and I would have believed them every time. Smartphones are a big deal, hey, Eric? You don’t say? Fortunately, Schmidt gest a little braver as he goes further into his interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzKM8oyCsUg That interview took place with Bloomberg TV and Schmidt made all of the following predictions: -Tablets will become more popular -The rise of smartphones and tablets will make big data more feasible and more common -Along with big data, “machine intelligence” will also play an important role in 2014 and will affect businesses and consumers around the world -DNA sequencing will become more influential in 2014, although Schmidt admits that he doesn’t exactly know how -Specific to Google, Schmidt believes that spreading the internet everywhere is one of the company’s important goals Anytime you get to sit down and watch a billionaire’s opinions about something tends to be an interesting experience. This is no exception, although it looks like Schmidt has made some relatively conservative predictions this year. In any case, according to Schmidt, it looks like 2014 will finally be the year my grandma gets a smartphone. Good for her!