Google is boring now, and that's bad news for innovation

Trust me, I never thought it would come to this. If you had asked me a week ago what I was expecting from Google's I/O developer conference, "boring" is not the word that would've come to mind. Yet, looking at this year's announcements, I'm struck most by how completely expected and, well, safe it all is. Sure, Google Lens was far and away the best thing Google previewed here, and a standalone VR headset is particularly enticing if you're a VR enthusiast (so far a pretty small, self-selecting group). SEE ALSO: Google's Assistant app for iOS is a clunky mess But none of that is exciting or especially innovative.