Google co-founder Sergey Brin spoke on a panel at the Blockchain Summit hosted by Richard Branson in Morocco over the weekend, among some of the most elite technology leaders and researchers around the globe. According to CNBC, Brin admitted that Google, and its parent company Alphabet which he heads as president, missed the boat when it came to the distributed ledger technology.
“We probably already failed to be on the bleeding edge,” he lamented. “I’ll be honest.”
Despite the early setbacks, Brin hinted that blockchain technology might be within the grasp of Google’s mysterious research division, X—and that he sees the future of the company as “taking these kinds of research-y kind of out-there ideas and making them real.”
Sure, this is all well and good! However, now is probably a good time to take a break in the reporting to point out that the whole time Brin was speaking on the subject, he was dressed like this:
Google co-founder Sergey Brin on zcash’s zero knowledge proof’s widespread use: “It’s really mindboggling.” #BlockchainSummit via @ForbesCrypto pic.twitter.com/04shCk9wbY
— Michael del Castillo (@DelRayMan) July 8, 2018
Like, that’s just basically a robe, right? It’s definitely a robe. As the photo began to go viral, Twitter definitely had some thoughts.
https://twitter.com/rachsyme/status/1016348942152368128
Is this a still from “Silicon Valley”? https://t.co/rHykpPGSxk
— RideTheLightning⚡- e/acc (@MediumSqueeze) July 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/rathermarvelous/status/1016372857876762630
This is the most “blockchain is not a cult” photo ever taken https://t.co/mtjG6ljgDw
— badidea 🪐 (@0xabad1dea) July 9, 2018
The groom’s white best friend giving a toast at every Indian-American wedding https://t.co/LB7GhVWvRA
— Neeraj K. Agrawal (@NeerajKA) July 9, 2018
*Very* much appreciate Sergey’s commitment to comfort. https://t.co/7p9DwsjrQv
— mat honan ☀️ (@mat) July 9, 2018
One person pointed out that Brin appears to be wearing a Jellabiya, which is “a traditional Egyptian garment native to the Nile Valley.” As to why he’s wearing it, and in Morocco, no less, well, that remains a mystery, especially when you consider other photos from the event show most men wearing polo shirts and shorts.
https://twitter.com/kaftoot/status/1016384279993974784
At any rate, Brin may have been late to jump on blockchain, but if casual man robes become the next big fashion trend, certainly no one is going to accuse him of being behind the times on this one.
