GOOOOOOGLE

Before reading the article "Searching for Trouble: Why Google is on its guard" by Ken Auletta, I had no opinion on Google other than it is convenient and functional. Like many people, I took it for granted, using it daily but never stopping to consider it. I didn't even know how Google worked; the math of it is genius. After reading the article, I am thinking about Google, though I'm still not sure what I think.

I dislike the monopoly created by Google. I dislike what a powerhouse it has become. It scares me how much information Google is able to collect from its users and what it could do with that information of it divorced its users and married its advertisers (as Auletta mentions, p54).

Yet I found myself respecting Google's values and founders. For instance, I love that Google has succeeded to the utmost degree and yet still pushes its limits and those of the industry in the quest of developing new products and services. I admire the passion of its founders. Auletta, describes Brin and Page as having "restless-we-are-never-satisfied energy;" they are pioneers.

The brief section of the article which speculates about the Obama administration's relationship with Google interested me; it summed up a bit of what I was feeling reading the article. I appreciate the services that Google provides (a lot) yet its size feels menacing. I will be curious to see how the various court decisions rule, including Google's bid to digitize the world's library.

I do not think Google is going anywhere. The business has extended arms in many directions and eventually it might have to start making decisions and narrowing its reach, but everyone Googles and that won't change.