Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Google Empire

Is Google becoming the real life incarnate of the super computer? You know, the one that becomes smart and cocky and powerful and outsmarts all of us humans? Or are the Google-ites just really smart people? What do you think?

A recent addition to Google, one in which you can see service updates for NYC subways on Maps, had me thinking about this question more and more. Everybody uses Google. If you've ever used a computer, you've probably used Google. In fact, I can't even name someone who hasn't used Google. Bing? No good. Ask.com? No good. Google, ladies and gentlemen, is the king of the Internet castle. So what does all this mean? With a healthy dose of cynicism and just the right amount of paranoia, maybe we'll find out.

Google, in fact, is not a product. It is a service and one that, in all honesty, merely points you in the right direction. It is a giant map of the web, as well as the world (see what I did there!). Think about how many times, daily, you turn to Google to help you: settle an argument! or find a band you like, or find a video you saw at a friend's house, or find a resource for work or school, and on and on and on. It is a (almost) limitless engine, one to which the human population is now forever bound. With the advent of Google glasses, this could be even more true in the coming years. You will never be able to leave your house without Google in your head (think about that) because it is just such a useful service. So is Google outsmarting us? or are the Google employees the ones that are really smart?

Because Google is such an innovative company, they are always pushing the limits of their services and aren't afraid to try something different. They've competed well in the mobile industry with Android, and obviously online they are almost everybody's first stop. With the amount of services Google offers (think YouTube, Google+, maps, books, news, calendar, docs, syncing with your phone) does this mean that Google is going to outsmart us? Is Google smarter than us? Or do we give the smarts to the creators and curators of these great services?In my opinion, no, Google is not necessarily outsmarting us. Google is still a service first. The services it provides are useful, innovative, and engaging. I like to give the people working on these great initiatives more credit than Google because they are the brains of the operation so to speak, and Google is just the vehicle for their visions.
Brains are shrinking as Google is growing.

In another direction, though, I do think Google (among other things) is making human beings very tech-reliant. While not necessarily a bad thing - these new technologies and innovations make things that were once fairly time consuming take almost no time at all - this great reliance on technology to solve everything is not good for the human psyche. While humans are the ones providing the answers behind the scenes, the fact that we rely on Google for a good wealth of our information is disconcerting.

The Age of the Internet encourages less personal interaction, the thing that makes us human. Call me old school, but it's kind of fun, challenging, and interesting to figure things out yourself or find something new yourself, or even read a map to find your directions instead of using a GPS. Google allows us to NOT use our brains, something we are lucky to have (or unlucky depending on your view of evolution). Let's keep the world our own, in all its beauty and not let Google become our brains.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

1 comment:

  1. I think its important for people to be educated on the limits of technology. Computers are actually not smart at all, they're very stupid really. Ask anyone who's ever programmed one. Computer programs are only as good as their programmer makes them. And that is as good as they will ever be. Computer programs only do exactly as they are supposed to and do not deviate. As amazing as Google is, it will always have limitations because it is a man-made program.

    Google search results are not the be-all end-all, contrary to popular belief. Although they are quite helpful in many situations, sometimes it is better to figure things out yourself, like you said. Often times, you'll find something off the beaten path that you otherwise would not have found. From there, you can draw your own conclusions from your findings. This is far better than simply regurgitating what you found on Google.

    "It is a service and one that, in all honesty, merely points you in the right direction."
    I agree, but it doesn't necessarily point you in the "right" direction.

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