For the past twenty years or so, I’ve had a clear image of what a product launch keynote is supposed to be like. A charismatic executive walks across the stage, points to some animations and pre-taped clips, a live demo or two happens, and the crowd goes wild. Clips proliferate on social media and cue the online discourse. You can trace it back to Steve Jobs dressed in a black turtleneck, with a glint in his eye, walking across a stage, asking if a hyped-up audience is ready for one more thing. So iconic was that format, it’s been the blueprint for nearly every tech keynote since.
Today’s Made by Google event was decidedly not that.
It was …