Davos observer; Google’s new and old media

Even at Davos, Google does things with a certain (geekish) style. While other multinationals cram into anonymous meeting rooms (KPMG’s office is in a hotel hairdressing salon), Google’s temporary offices in Davos feature all-white furniture, mysterious sliding walls and a lava lamp. Despite such new media trappings, the subject that got the reporters gathered there for a press conference was what fate Google’s founders thought awaited their old media employers.

“I think the newspaper has a good future,” said Sergey Brin, as Larry Page said Google wanted to be friend not foe, sending new advertising revenues newspapers’ way. What about their own reading habits? “I get the New York Times on Sunday and it’s nice,” said Brin, before warning that digital displays would soon provide as good a reading experience as paper. “I’ll cleary pay to access” good news content, Page said reassuringly, only to admit: “I probably should pay for the Wall Street Journal but I don’t because it’s just a hassle.”