This is the best piece on the Google/Alphabet thing I've seen.

I wonder if the point of the restructure is more personal. If I had accidentally built Google's advertising business out of a way to organise the information on the internet, I imagine that my personal interests would have moved on from the ad industry. I wonder if Alphabet's structure would make it possible for Google to sell off Google? Or at least, selling the co-founder's controlling shares in Google itself, leaving them with the rest of Alphabet to play with?

But its the point Steven Levy makes about how well the different Google pieces will be able to benefit from one another (or how Google will be able to benefit from developments in, say, Nest) that I find a bit troubling.

And I wonder why Android remains a part of Google? Surely divorcing the platform from the ad business would only be a good thing for consumer trust, China etc.?

Some Random Nerd