Google: the One Stop Shop for…EVERYTHING

Google is. Google just is, it is everything we want. We want shoes – Google, we want housing – Google, we want weather, news, directions – Google. It has become a part of our lives, it may just be a search engine to us, but in reality it is the search engine, and it is a massive company as well.

Google is consistently rated the highest used search engine (ebizma.com and seoconsultant.com) and it’s no surprise, it’s the easiest source to ask simple, to unthinkable/embarrassing questions. Yet, in this society this innovation is feared, and thought of as a threat, really? Well here is how I view this search engine in respect to the reason why people are fearful:

·         It caters to us we, use Google to find things that interest us on the web.

·         Google then uses web searches to find the exact article/picture/site that  we want

·         Google takes the information about ourselves (I call this our online profile) and stores it, using it as a reference to specify our proceeding searches eventually following a pattern created personally for us.

Isn’t this exactly what we enjoy about the internet? The fact that it is a tool catered to us, for our needs, our desires – retrieving this information lightning fast. Our society moves and grows at a quick pace, and this is just what Google has been formed to assist.

Some of the reasons why people are not impressed by Google is due to the feeling of their privacy being invaded. They also feel like it is threatening their extension of knowledge. By continually searching the same terms, pages, and areas they are missing out on the depth of information available. We cannot take full advantage of this tool (and that is exactly what Goolge is) without first being able to master it. In Siva Vaidhyanathan’s book The Googlization of Everything (and why we should worry) the author states that “Google is thus dangerous as the airplane and the automobile have proved dangerous in ways their pioneers did not anticipate in the 1920s. These technologies of mobility and discovery are dangerous not just because they physically endanger their users but because we use them recklessly, use them too much, and design daily life around them”. (19, Vaidhyanathan) After reading 100 pages of this book, I don’t think I have come across a more meaningful, perfect quotation to describe what Google is doing to our society.

We use this tool so recklessly with respect to careless inquiries, and idiotic/pointless searches for pure amusement. Google is a tool that should be used to enhance an understanding, to gain something meaningful, or insightful; instead because we rely on Google so heavily we have allowed it to slowly creep its way through every inch of the internet. There are no boundaries for Google, no corner of the World Wide Web left untouched by Googles caressing fingers.

The fact is that Google was created for searches but has since expanded to, email, RSS, blogger, youtube, calander, shopping, directions etc. and now it is being used as a social networking organization? Facebook is the place for social networking in my mind, of course there is also twitter but now a social network entitled “Google plus” is about to break new ground… well if you are as confused as I was watch this video and then try to imagine the future of our Google (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC_M6PzXS9g)

 Airplanes are still around, and so is the automobile, both come with their downfalls: pollution, cost, not everyone can use/operate them, there is limitations (age, speed etc.) but they have up as well: convenience, safety, connectivity, and style. They are always changing and being enhanced, and perfected, this is exactly how I see Google, with ups and downs, but ultimately here to stay and attempt to create a lasting impression on our world.