In our lifetime, every human being will have access to every
piece of information on the planet, according to Google chief
executive Eric
Schmidt.
Schmidt said graduates, who have 500 times more storage on their
iPod than the mainframes used for the first six US lunar missions,
had at their disposal the tools to become the greatest generation
to date.
History has shown that "good things happen in recessions", he
said, referring to innovations such as the beer can during the
great depression of the 1930s.
Schmidt encourages graduates to embrace an emerging culture of
innovation and to use technology to do things in a group.
"Groups are strong and groups are faster. None of us is as smart
as all of us, so use Twitter and the like as a form of social
intelligence," he said.
Information serves as a check and balance on politicians, he
said in a speech posted on
YouTube.
Repressive regimes can be attacked with information. By making
things known by using of the technology tools now available,
current and future generations can make the world a better place,
he said.
Schmidt was speaking at a graduation ceremony at
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
yesterday.