Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan To Organize Everything We Know

https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Google-Companys-Audacious-Everything/dp/B001GS0QIG 
It was published in 2008 so factor that in.

I read this book a few years back and it left an impression on me. Some think Google is evil, this may or may not change you view (it did for me). I found it an interesting read and I think they deserve a hall of fame of human history right along side of the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

Google's goal was to organize all knowledge in the the world, and make it available to everyone in the world free of charge. The book goes into how they developed the best search engine to date - nobody has been able to compete with them. Interesting read on the basics on how they created the search engine.

Additionally how they built their business almost by mistake with selling adds and and so forth.

Some other interesting points that are worth my recollection was how they they documented and digitized old artifacts from almost any museum that would let them.
- How they were able to navigate around copyright issues to digitally preserve books, movies, TV show, literature of all kinds.
- When they absorbed YouTube and how to handle public video for the common folk to share.
- When they created Google Maps and how to handle mapping the world all the way down to "street view."

I'm no fan of G00gl3 or any "big tech" firm that uses it's customer base as a revenue stream and does devious things like remove content at their discretion/will, de-monetize content from it's users and hide information.

2008 was a lifetime ago in what Big Tech has managed to get away with.

https://thefederalist.com/2022/02/23/lets-hope-the-special-counsel-and-others-are-investigating-the-people-who-watch-you-online/ [/i]


Let's see if they have a future.

Agreed to some extent.

Any business utilizes it's customer base as a revenue stream be it rewards cards, frequent flyer points etc.. It's the way of the world. It has been going on for longer than I've been alive. Sunday news papers were full of coupons for local stores and stuff. We got coupons for the local area we lived in and not places in a different county, state or region.

Daily soap opera commercials on TV were tailored to the house wife with kitchen gadgets, cleaning products, Rice A Roni type stuff (target audience) Night time TV commercials were beer and broads tailored to the "Man of the house." (target audience).

Computers and big data just makes it easier to collect the data and tailor it to the individual sitting on their phone and computer. User data and information makes the world go around - it's not much different than it was decades ago other than it's more streamlined.

I'm OK with them using that data, I can't get around it unless I unplug from the world and society to live in a cave. It's up to me what I share and what I don't. The responsibility of what I share ultimately falls in my lap.

I didn't mean the commercialism of their platofrms. That's almost a given. I remember when Netscape started using ads in the column margins and scoffed at it then. If you want to use them, then you give up a little, that I understand.

I'm not okay with them using the data. I'm not okay with our government doing the same thing either. I'm surprised at how they're complicit with the crimes and swindle. Almost like, "well we're a day late, but we're not going to be a dollar short!" attitude towards all of it.