Diving into a history lesson before the event
Google I/O is just around the corner, and the tech giant is gearing up to unveil new hardware including the Pixel Fold, as well as numerous advancements in the AI realm. Ahead of the big day, Google took the time to explain the story behind the event’s name, and its origin is probably not on anyone’s bingo card.
Many people have guessed that I/O stood for “input/output” while others thought it was short for “innovation in the open.” Google admits those guesses were good tries, but they weren’t quite right. To paint the picture of how the company landed on I/O, it explained how the first-ever developer conference took place in 2006 but only landed on the name two years later when the event moved to a bigger venue. Once Google found a new spot, it settled on the I/O name which is much more meta than anyone thought.
I/O was based on the googol, which is the number one followed by 100 zeroes, and as you may have guessed, the inspiration behind the company’s name. Essentially, the “I” stands for the number one while the “O” is a placeholder for the many zeroes that follow it. Google claims the name is an Easter egg and hoped that developers would eventually figure it out.
Now that Google has closed the case on one of the biggest mysteries before I/O, all eyes are turned toward what the company will have to unveil tomorrow.
We know the Pixel Fold is coming, but the Pixel 7a and the Pixel Tablet could also make their debut during the conference as well.
Google is also expected to dive deeper into AI and how it will work with its existing services. The company has slowly been rolling out generative AI tools to Google Docs, but it might also come to Messages as well.
