Despite the global recession, Google hasn't made any real announcements about Project 10^100 since the project was delayed indefinitely on March 18. I think the world needs Google's ten million dollars now more than ever, so I started http://Project10tothe100Now.org to bring attention to Project 10^100's excessive delay.

Our goal is to make Google set a concrete date to announce the Project 10^100 finalists. Until Google sets a solid date to announce the finalists, it has no reason to prioritize the project. It could wait until its eleventh anniversary to announce the finalists or time the announcement to coincide with a major tech conference. There's no reason Google shouldn't announce a deadline TODAY.

What do you think? Was Mayer's "We'll be making some announcements coming up this fall" statement enough information, or should Google make an announcement NOW?

<<What do you think? Was Mayer's "We'll be making some announcements coming up this fall" statement enough information, or should Google make an announcement NOW?>>

I think it's enough. It's a huge project and takes a lot of resources to go through all those submissions. The fact that they are putting ten million dollars into this is enough. If i was really afraid they were abandoning this, then i'd think a campaign would be necessary, but i don't think they would wan't to, and i'm sure they're aware that all of us would never let them get away with that.

I'm not worried about them abandoning the project, just putting it on the back burner. If they can make an announcement "this fall", they can also make it tomorrow. If the estimate is wrong and they have to delay the project again, that's no big deal. In my opinion, the biggest problem is that Google has no reason to devote extra time and resources to the project until they are accountable to a deadline. Until then, their only fear is the public's gradual loss of interest.

Okay, maybe that can make a premature announcement tomorrow, but why should they? I'd rather they take their time. Even their own product releases have been late. Google Pages was supposed to be phased out months ago. The fact that they're taking on this charitable project is something that deserves more respect. Sure, as a publicly traded company their #1 priority is to serve their shareholders, but they're still able to do a lot of great things without being evil and they're probably the only major corporation i don't loathe. I don't consider myself a Google fanboy (anymore), but i still love what they do (for the most part). Google almost always has a plan. With something this big, i hope it's a good one. It could be bigger than you imagine and an announcement too early would simply ruin it. You don't know. And even if none of that is true, why is it such a big deal? There are much bigger problems in the world, the industry, and even within Google itself. Why target this?

The real reason I chose this project is because I believe the purchasing power of Google's ten million is falling rapidly. As the global economy begins to pick back up, the amount of supplies and services that can be purchased with ten million dollars falls. Assuming that all prices were deflated 1% in March and are inflated 3% when Project 10^100 picks back up, the prize will have lost about four hundred thousand dollars of purchasing power (assuming that my inflation calculation is correct). Four hundred thousand dollars is a lot to have lost, but if inflation skyrockets, the prize could lose a great deal more value.

I didn't put that in the open letter because I'm not confident in my economic speculation skills and I'm not sure people would understand (or believe me).

Hi Evan, I work at Google and spent a lot of time going through the submissions for the first rounds (along with a lot of other Googlers). While it would be awesome to see things move along much faster, sometimes it's better to take things step by step. Keep in mind that the suggestions are generally meant to help for the long term, they'll be just as relevant in the fall (or when the finalists have been chosen) as they are now.

At Google we work hard on making the world a better place, sometimes we have to make small sacrifices (such as moving dates back) in order to take the next step. Project 10^100 means a lot to us and you can be sure that we take it seriously. Thanks for your support and thanks for your trust.

John

Thanks for the info, JohnMu; I'm glad to hear that the project involves more than just a couple Google.org employees. I'd still like a concrete deadline to be announced soon, but that's just because I'm an impatient person.

<<that's just because I'm an impatient person.>>

Around here, we all are. (Hey, Google! Where's my GDrive invite?)

Hi Evan Kroske,

For me and IMHO, more important of all, is that (and I wonder), if the winner will be a charity idea that could save lives, "more delays could mean more deaths".

Regards from

José Augusto Macedo do Couto
Porto
Portugal

jamcouto1me.com

People //looks to me that a bit of kismet is needed.I think Google will come up with the goods,given time.But a bit of pressure will not go amiss.
cheers danny.

I think we should be happy Google is donating 10 million $ at all.