Eric Schmidt Is a Member of Apple's Board

Apple and Google have the most loyal users and are similar in many ways. Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, is now the eighth member of Apple's board.

Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, said that "like Apple, Google is very focused on innovation and we think Eric's insights and experience will be very valuable in helping to guide Apple in the years ahead." Before becoming Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt worked at Sun and Novel.

"Apple is one of the companies in the world that I most admire," said Eric Schmidt. And he's not the only one from Google who does that. "How did Apple and Madonna stay cool and innovative in the past 23 years? Not by being perfect, but by constantly reinventing themselves," concluded Marissa Mayer at a Stanford seminar.

Although I don't think this would mean some big changes for the two companies, here's what could happen:

* more attention to Mac users from Google's part (Picasa, Google Talk for Mac)

* a partnership between Google Video and iTunes Store

* a better way to deal with Microsoft's competition (Vista, new Office, Zune)

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