Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Google


Having found its way increasingly into everyday language, the verb "google" was added to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary in 2006.

google |ˈgoōgəl| (also Google)
verb
informal [ intrans. ] use an Internet search engine, particularly Google.com : she spent the afternoon googling aimlessly.
• [ trans. ] search for the name of (someone) on the Internet to find out information about them : you meet someone, swap numbers, fix a date, then Google them through 1,346,966,000 Web pages.

If you haven’t guessed it already I want to take a second to think about Google, but not Google the website rather Google the company.

The other day I was stumbling across the Internet when I came across this video:



What did you think? Charming? Heart warming? Cute? Funny? Intelligent?

Lets take a second and think about the motive behind this “video”. I put the word video in quotations because I believe the message that it disseminates goes beyond “online video” and into the world of promotion or what we more commonly call a commercial.

Why does Google need a commercial? It is already the most popular search engine on the planet. It’s in the dictionary for heavens sake! I mean lets be honest, I searched for “yahoo” in the dictionary and do you know what I got?

Yahoo - Noun: a rude, noisy, or violent person.

Sir Francis Bacon says it best when he said, “knowledge is power” and Google sure does work as the keeper of knowledge. Don’t get me wrong. When I need help with finding information I am the first person to turn to Google for help finding the answer, but at the same time I can’t help but think about who controls the flow of knowledge.

Like any good debate there are always two sides to the story. I can’t help but think that Google will one day become no different than Fox news who is often critiqued for having a slanted agenda under the rule of Rupert Murdoch.

My thoughts behind the purpose of the commercial are that Google has begun their shift in “company focus”. They are creating an image to go public with. I would not be surprised to see Google dip into the hardware development and news dissemination sectors. In the Google future we no longer go to Google for information, Google just gives it to us on our GooglePads or GoogleBooks.

Go ahead and label me as the crazy guy. Believe me, I know a lot of this thought is far fetched, but think about it for yourself. Let it simmer and let me know what you think.

4 comments:

Ms Garvan said...

Maybe the purpose of that video was to get people to accept their own ignorance and say "I don't know" more often (MG). Why does it matter how people find answers to their questions? Isn't it worse to go through life leaving your questions unanswered?
ps. Nice title

Unknown said...

Google has announced a recent initiative to digitize every piece of fiction in the english language. Call me crazy, but I don't know if I want google to possess english literature. Sure we have books. For now.

Ms Garvan said...

This supports your google theory:

http://mashable.com/2010/02/10/google-isp/

TeaseOpinion said...

take a cloer look and Google does control the news and so on and so forth. it would be interesting to see who sits on google's board of directors! it took me a while to see that everyhting is owned, controlled and manipulated by somebody - your post, in a sense, personifies that...but I love the video it is...very cute!