Have you ever spent a single day online without our friend, Google?
Whether we like it or not, “Google” is almost synonymous with “Internet”. Year after year, Google has developed enough online applications for us to be able to do anything you need to, by only using Google.
Now we have a search engine, an online email service, an IM service, a blogging platform, photo and video sharing applications, a feed reader, an online word processor, an encyclopedia, a web site creator, an online directory and even an Internet browser! Not to mention His PPC advertising system, its main source of revenue.
Now look at the list above. It’s pretty long, isn’t it? Well you know what? It’s only 10% of the programs, applications, widgets or services Google provides today.
Internet without Google?
Now the question is: would it be the Internet possible without Google?
Well, the natural response is yes, it would. But it would be an Internet without its best search engine, without Gmail, You Tube, Google Video, Google Reader, Picassa, Blogger, Orkut, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Analytics, Google AdSense, Google Chrome, Google Analytics, Google News, Google, Google, and Google!
What a message! It seems almost impossible to work without Google!
But it isn’t. That’s because - fortunately - for almost every service Google provides, there is an alternate service waiting to be discovered. So basically it all depends on your will to make a change. Are we ready to give up all these services and start One day without Google?
Whatever you do, Google is our Big Brother.
Anything we do on the Internet or in “real life”, Google knows about. Maybe these sounds a bit exaggerated, but think about it:
Google knows what we are looking for. Where we are from. What we are interested in. What we’re blogging about. What we are reading. What we advertise. What we click on. What our hobbies.
That’s because we use all these Google services that seem to be tailored to our needs and that require us to put up personal and technical information.
Are we ready to give them up and start One day without Google?
Be careful what you wish, Google knows it.
Funny I should mention the word “tailored”... As we’ve seen in the previous point, Google is our Big Brother, i.e. He knows pretty much about you. And of course He knows everything related to what you need.
Now that kind of information gives Google a tremendous power. Still haven’t figured it out why? Google can develop the exact application or service to fulfill your most ardent needs He knows about. So basically while Google works on creating new needs, He also develops new ways to address them. That’s kind of easy. For Him. And for us too, apparently. Unless we start One day without Google.
No study or explore anymore; there’s Google now.
Here, the issue is more complex than it seems at the first sight. With today’s computers and Internet, the access to information is freer than ever. And Google showed up to organize all that information and serve it on demand. That makes it an excellent way to quickly find information, learn about things you wouldn’t otherwise know about and find an answer to virtually any question.
But an issue arises from all this: why should I study anymore since I find everything on the Internet? And the problem is, for many people this question doesn’t have an obvious answer.
So there is a big risk that we, or at least our children, will forget how to handwrite (word processors rule!), will forget the multiplication table (google it!), will forget anything related to literature, history (there’s wiki), natural sciences and so on.
The problem is, sooner or later we won’t be able to discern what is true and what is false, since all our information sources have moved to online, the truth will lay on the first page of the SERPS (search engine results pages). And just like that...
...Your senses, typical for all live organisms, will all be annihilated.
All that, only if you let it happen. But we can make a change. Have a different view.
Make a point and stand up for it.
We can start One day without Google…
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