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Why “The Billion Dollar Code” is Evil
Did you watch “The Billion Dollar Code,” the Netflix television miniseries that purports to tell the true story behind the creation of Google Earth? If so, were you glad to learn about the scrappy, visionary little team in Berlin, far from Silicon Valley, who were portrayed as the true inventors of the software? And did you cheer them on in their uphill battle against the “evil” giant corporation, Google?
If so, sorry, but you were duped.
“The Billion Dollar Code,” is actually one of the most dishonest and cynical films ever foisted upon the public as a “true story”.
Before making my case, let me share that I did love watching some parts of the movie. After all, I worked at Silicon Graphics from 1994 through 1998, and the filmmakers did a phenomenal job showcasing our hardware, operating system, demos, and logo. In 1994, I became the product manager for Indy, the beautiful blue workstation that is lovingly featured in so many scenes:
And from January 1995 onward, I was a leader of the company’s decades-too-early effort to bring about the “metaverse” by delivering virtual reality over the Internet to personal computers in people’s homes. In many ways, the movie is an homage to Silicon Graphics, then the hottest company in Silicon Valley, and that I do truly appreciate. (Major props to the cinematographer, Henner Besuch, and to the production team, on bringing Silicon Graphics back to life, if only for a few hours!)
But (and this is a really, really BIG but), the “based on a true story” narrative of the movie is tragically flawed on many levels. Director Robert Thalheim and screenwriter Oliver Ziegenbalg want you to believe that Google not only stole the idea for Google Earth from the team at ART+COM, but also realized ART+COM’s vision by copying their algorithms, thereby infringing on a patent they had filed in December of 1995. They frame this as a David vs. Goliath story, one in which the “real” inventors never got their due, both in terms of fame and wealth. (And in which, through this film, they would finally get their “much-deserved recognition,” albeit under fictionalized names. Go…
