Eric Schmidt and Peter Thiel – Fortune Magazine Debate

Key Takeaways

• Smartphones are a supercomputer in the palm of your hand
  • Soon, everyone in the world will have access to the internet, thus having access to all of the world’s information – and in their own language!
• A lot of innovation is prohibited because of governmental regulation
• There was a tech bubble in the 90s, a housing bubble in the 00s, and now there’s a bubble in education
  • Education costs have increased by 300% since 1980, but it’s not clear if quality has gone up at all
    • Millennials are becoming indentured servants with the amount of students debt they owe

Intro

• Peter Thiel (@peterthiel) is an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund.
  • Check out his book – Zero to One
• Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) is known for being the Chairman of Google from 2001 to 2011, Executive Chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015 and executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 2017
  • Check out the Podcast Notes from Eric’s appearance on The Tim Ferriss Show

The Benefits of Technology

Eric Schmidt’s Thoughts

• In the past 20-30 years, technology has brought a couple of billion people up from significant poverty to lower middle class
  • Soon, everyone in the world will have access to the internet, thus having access to all of the world’s information – and in their own language!
• Smartphones may not seem like much, but they’re actually supercomputers in the palm of your hand
• Even though people are living healthier and longer lives, most still choose to retire around the same age – 65 or so
• The Arab Spring was a result of a long history of repression (they regulated TV, telephones, etc. – but they couldn’t regulate the internet) – once information was available and could spread easily, people were able to demand better rights and leaders
• Two things that will change the world: Globalization and automation
  • Many jobs will be affected by these two revolutions
  • The solution? – Education

Peter Thiel’s Thoughts