I wrote a week ago that I was negotiating to get on the Google plane back from the Davos conference to the Bay Area. One exec said it was looking good, another said they’d try to get me on. But so far, nothing. The plane leaves in about twelve hours and no official invitatation has come.
Meanwhile, I’ve heard that Tim O’Reily, Mitch Kapor, Reid Hoffman and Mark Zuckerberg will be on that flight. Basically, every Davos attendee from the bay area except me managed to hitch a ride back with Google. The plane seats 25 people with a full bed, I’ve been told, and is now completely full.
Oh well, I’m sure my coach ticket on Swiss Air via Frankfurt and New York will be just fine. And I can’t really blame Google - the entire flight I would clearly have been eavesdropping on conversations, rummaging through papers and unattended laptops, and generally making a nuisance of myself in the search for a good story. They probably would have had to make an emergency landing in Greenland just to kick me off. Then I’d be stuck in Greenland, and I’m not even sure if they have the Internet there. We’ve certainly never covered a startup from Greenland.
Update: I caught Tim, Mitch, and Reid leaving the hotel to make the flight. Boy do they look happy.
maybe they are afraid you will do interviews on the plane…
A good story like “the super awesome cool room with all the celebrities at this great conference.”
Cry Baby….. My 14 month old niece doesn’t cry like this….. get the hint Michael, Mark is preferred over you….
payback is a bitch, time to run some stories about how Google sucks and bash all of their future products
Not every attendee from the bay area got a seat. I’m stuck in coach too!
You fly coach, Mike?!? What is wrong with you!!!! How can you stand sitting amongst the peons?
4lawnotes - cattle class all the way.
crybaby - you think?
:((((((
Maybe mrs nobel price is there too, warming up the globe? I plain like that for 25…
This is a really important subject, but they are giving it publicity of a mistaken way. These subjects must be dealt with greater seriousness.
“Oh well, I’m sure my coach ticket on Swiss Air”
Swiss air gives you a muffin and those little chocolate bars. You won’t get that on the Google jet.
Mike,
maybe this is one is better.
http://img529.imageshack.us/im.....ailjc8.jpg
-Dave
Good luck getting home on Swiss Air.. Just a heads up: Swiss Air doesn’t exist anymore.
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Air )
O’Reily passes WICKED gas when he’s napping, so you actually lucked out.
If memory serves correctly from my flights from Zurich, Swiss air also gives you white moist hand towels, also unavailable on the Google jet.
Maybe Google does not realise how important you are…maybe someone there will read this post though and rectify things (we hope).
Business, News = Good. Crying = Bad.
??
Dave - heh. thanks, changed the image.
Are you really craving for this much attention?
Rob - yes.
an excellent lesson in how completely unimportant you are outside of silicon valley
Mike, I have more respect for M. Arrington flying coach than for the bunch of riches burning more than their fair share of fuel. Keep it humble. I think this is why people like you.
rick, actually, these are SV folks making the decision, so I think you could have just ended your sentence after “are.”
Now go back to kicking kittens or whatever it is you do for fun.
Why am I still… surprised… at what assholes so many internet commenters are.
This is the guy’s blog, and he was just barely not able to fly home on the Google jet? He tells us the story and that makes him a cry baby, etc?
Seriously, you trolls are complete fuckheads. I’m so sick of sifting through asshole comment after asshole comment to find the informative or funny stuff.
Jeremy - yay! a defender. Thank you.
The Goooooooooooooooogle Jet is probably a sweet ride… but you fail. Better luck next time.
The best part about is is that there’s wifi on the plane.
I simply lament that idiotic/interesting comment ratio, as am I sure most reasonably civilized ‘net user does.
Perhaps every commenting system should have “simple” digg-style voting to discourage random idiots? Trolls need to be filtered, like the spam they are.
I am not talking about people I simply disagree with. Disagreement is great. Its the pointless, easy, slobbish nonsense of fifth-grade insults that I am tired of having to scan past.
Jeremy - yeah. those guys are dickheads. immature jerks.
I think the main thing is they don’t get my sarcasm and the fact that I’m making fun of myself. Or, they do get it but don’t think it’s funny. Or something else entirely.
If I had the chance to attend the Forum in Davos and I’d have to swim across the ocean to get back, I’d still be smiling all the way … except for the sharks.
Come to think of it, there’s probably a good number of sharks on that flight as well
now your going to miss scoble spooning with zuckerberg on the jet…sounds like they found each other in davos…and they are now finishing each others sentences while eating cornish hen in the hot tub.
I cant help but thinking … what happens if this bird fall from the sky? Does that mean the end of Silicon Valley and Web 2.0 as we know it?
Well, let’s hope that plane doesn’t go down.
Nice meeting you at Davos. Sorry you didn’t make it on the plane, there were some other planes heading this direction.
If only I had known. I would have packed you in my luggage on Stringer’s plane.
Figured you were tapped in
Josh
At least you can fly home with your pride intact, knowing you never used TC as leverage to try and embarrass or publicly guilt Google into gifting you a ride home.
So what are the chances then, that everyone has their wireless devices out and the plane goes down from interference? Wouldn’t that suck.
Not that I would wish that upon them, but every time I’ve been in a plane they tell the us passengers to keep their devices off.
At least you got to attend Davos, and I’m sure that was worth the trip, regardless of whether you make it onto the Goooooooooooooooogle Jet or not.
How are you supposed to arrange for a seat anyway?
david - yeah but I did try to, so I lost my pride and didn’t get the ride.
Oh wait, you were being sarcastic.
Michael:
More importantly, we should work on helping you get upgrades. It’s definitely worthwhile for the startup entrepreneur to understand the ins and outs of the upgrade system. If you don’t have the time to sift through http://www.flyertalk.com, might I suggest concentrating on one easy-to-upgrade airline (United and American are best) and shooting for Top-Tier status on them? This’ll give you a bunch of upgrades per year (6 or 8 international, 8-10 domestic, plenty of time-based ones) that will ensure you rarely sit in the back.
You probably travel enough to make a small sacrifice and choose a carrier/alliance to commit to.
Has CrunchNotes now been merged in to TechCrunch? It seems like non-techcrunchy stories are popping up here with greater regularity.
Mike, best not complain, you could have got screwed by getting on the plane, and ending up sitting next to Zuckerberg for 12 hours - having watched a few of his presentations - chances are you swimming home on a raft would be more appealing than having to put up with his drone-like voice and lack of personality.
on another note - u reckon they have google branded peanuts on the plane? that would be cool
perhaps when you go through security to get on the google plane after the security questions they ask “sir, are you planning on being evil?”
Michael,
can’t blame you. I also would love to be on a plane with California KKing Size Bed… and Marissa.
Oh, admit it… she’s hot!
oh yeah - and another thing….having seen some of your pictures from Davos…what are you?? like 9 ft tall or something?
BTW, Mike. Not sure why you’re complaining. From looking at your pics, it seems that you had a great time with that HOT Indian chik
Man, I wish I ran a site like TC. I would get so much action!!
I’m envious of the fact that you have contacts who could potentially get you on the plane. You’re already about 10 steps closer to that ride than I am!
this post is something I was not expecting from you Mike. Yeah there are moments in our life when when we feel lack of attention but people like you never make that public:) looks like you are changing, to good.
So what?
Michael, just buy yourself your very own plane next year. I bet you can. =)
Hahahah ! hahaha!
Firstly mike, great humor.
Never seen you responding to so many comments, good to see you like online at TC.
There is always next time.
Still, you get to go home soon landing at SF. Google plane lands in moffet field(NASA). Which is far from you home
Have a good weekend.
Cheers, Nag
Boo freaking hoo.
I hope you get stuck between two heavy fraus in the center bulkhead seat.
What an arrogant freaking narcissistic jerk! You make Dvorak look plainly rational!
good post Michael !
posts don’t always have to be about “who started what, how good /bad it is”,
can be about light humors types such as this !
bring back the fun.. once in a while..
:0)
Ujw
p
you’re not one of the cool kids… you just write about them.
Here is the plane arriving for Davos on Thursday.
http://www.airliners.net/open......;photo_nr=
I feel for Mike. I have been in Europe and barely missed an upgrade in business to sit 9 hours in coach. This is much worse. From nearly making the most famous private plane in the country, that is probably extremely comfortable, to a 2 connection coach flight that will take 20 hours. Even if Mike didnt post about it he would surely be feeling it.
with the amount of free publicity you give Facebook and google , you’d think they would give you a lifetime membership to Goog.
Lesson learnt fella , you got used . They arent your friends rather they want you when they want / how they want.
Yea, not flying Google Airlines, that’s tough! At least, if the crew is as efficient as an Adword campaign, you’re better off without it.
travelling pretty often, i have to say the long flights are not that bad, its no google, but even coach is quite tolerable.
i just bring my laptop, 2 batteries (6 hrs each), and load it up with movies and soccer games. goes by pretty fast.
thanks mike !
I fully support and love these posts.
Like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, the Google plane has mistique. Mike did not get a golden ticket. Or will he last minute … like Charlie … and then get to watch Zuckerberg swell like a giant blueberry when he disobeys the list of “looky looky, but don’t touchy” directives handed out during pre-flight instruction.
…and after all you’ve done for them.
M, all you can hope for is a smooth ride while the gplane is tied up on the runway, like my flight yesterday (with catastrophic engine failure) …still waiting for a new one to get me to SFO
Hey at least you only have to fly from Switzerland. Try flying all the way to India on coach, 2x the distance, 50x the misery, every 3-4 months, like I do. I dare you
they miss something if they cant fly with you (:
wow would have been good
yupnup.com
HREF=”www.yupnup.com”>How do you rate?
wow would have been good
yupnup.com
HREF=”http://yupnup.com”>How do you rate
@ Dave 31:
Best line I’ve read in a long time!
Did Robert Scoble make it on the G-Plane?
Sridhar, by the time Mike makes up his mind, you’ll be flying him on *your* jet:-)
MA, you’re newsmedia…newsmedia people are leeches - they’re down there with annoying paparazzziziiziz
Ah ah
Funny post
Good luck next time, I’m sure you’ll end up in the Google Jet someday
Then, your mission will be so sneek out some pics
Mike,
Cmon playa!!?? You dont need Google’s plane! You’re making cash money - step it up and get your own share on a lear jet or something like that ;-).
If you’re flying coach then my name is Hugh Hefner and I bang 3 playboy bunnies every night!
Too bad maybe you could have cozied up next to M&M (Marissa Meyers).
lol mike, this was a funny read
GOOOOOGGLE across the windows lol.
I thought Arringtons post was funny and entertaining especially the part about rummaging through unattended laptops etc..
I think people here sometimes takes things too seriously. Relax..who wouldn´t wanna be on the Googleplane?
LOL, nice thread. Mark is preferred over you Michael.
Kinda feel bad about it, Techcrunchers don’t have a coverage in the plane.
Somebody call the WHAAAAMBULANCE! I travel in a pet carrier you insensitive blogging-about-blogs clod.
Micheal,
a-its against google governance policy for you and larry and sergey to travel on the same flight as it poses risk to the tech community in the event of a g-d for bid
b- the twin jet was supposed to pick you and your entourage up but was grounded in nashville in connection with the terrorist plot to crash into the miley cyrus concert
c- you wouldn’t dream of being part of that giant waste of energy on a per person ratio -
d- you missed the plane to interview scoble
please tell the truth!!
Does Perez Hilton fly on private jets with the celebrities he writes about?
Does Perez Hilton fly on private jets with the celebrities he writes about?
Google should be ashamed. They claim to be so “green” and yet they don’t believe in carpooling!?!?!?
The indignity of it all.
Mike - they’re still sore at you over breaking the YouTube buy…
@61: What 50x misery? I don’t mind flying to/from India every 3-4 weeks, leave alone 3-4 months…..
Perez Hilton rides up, in, or on every celebrity he flies with. ROLF……
So Arrington’s hitting that. This truly is an unjust world.
You should’ve used Odorono.
I would have let u on but sworn to not posting any comments that were discussed on the ride for 72 hours. After that, “game on” No such thing as “bad publicity” Actually, you should have been first choice. there’s nothing wrong with both sides of the story.
You are such a cry baby… no wonder i stopped reading this crappy blog a while back… i wonder when someone will launch a credible, worthy news resource.
Michael, you’ll be able to cut the air full of bullshit with a knife if you flew on that flight. Be glad you don’t have to sit through that =)
Just imagine, if this plane went down it would be worse than La Bamba. The Day the Bubble Died.
Who the hell is Mark suckerberg and why the hell did he get preferred over you?! i don’t like this!
Arrignton, you say the word and ….
Somebody call the whambulance…
I love all the guys that come to the blog and post telling you that they aren’t coming to the blog anymore
I thought you were going to shame others for taking the ride as some form of kickback… then I read it only to find out you’re upset because you couldn’t get on…
On one hand, it’d be pretty frickin sweet to fly on the google plane.
But on the other hand, I’m not a leading blogger who is supposed to be looking at things unbiased so my readers can trust me.
Jerry H. Yang, Michael. What? No Yahoo plane?
Shame. I’ve had to fly coach…gee, Calculator seems to have frozen…oh, like EVERY effing time. You’re coming across just a tad whiny here, dude.
Journalistic (and/or editorial) honesty has its price.
Do you want Dan to do something about it?
Mike, this sounds like the rules of succession planning for SV kept you off the plane, for your and our safety. Aren’t you, like, 8th in line to run SV? So you can’t be on the same plane as the others ahead of you in case something happened to the plane.
On the other hand, how much do you want to bet that the plane conveniently stops in Dubai or Grand Cayman or Brazil (for Carnival) on the way back to California to “refuel”?
Hey Mike, having made several transatlantic flights for as long as I can remember I have to say its not so bad as long as you don’t end up in the middle of two adults about my size. Somehow having a small war over who gets the armrest makes the flight always go that much faster!
I would never ride plane with Jerry Yang & co. unless if they give me back my domain name.
Hypocrites, buy a big plane and then start talking about solar pannels on google campus to help the environment.
Hmm, perhaps i’m just jealous…..
Great example Micheal Arrington on Google Jet.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....leSs05.jpg
Maybe this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Khali.jpg
Bigger than Google founder.
P.S… Get some rest… Mike.
Well if missing the gravy train is that serious regarding your reporting, how is the blog response suppose to reflect anything serious in regard of your personal quotations outlined in reporting your personal conquests, ridiculous.
Shocking reporting to be honest, also Michael if you where any reporter of substance you would be likely to get a upgrade at the airport into business.
Michael, you’re my hero for that post. Much needed lulz after a week of being very sick!
It’s a pile-on!
Poooor you!
michael stop crying … i’ve been online with 2Mbit broadband in Greenland before - if nothing else you can get some connection on the military bases your country has established there…
Mike, why not use your TechCrunch Jet?
http://flickr.com/photos/micha.....248980453/
That’s fucking BULLSHIT!