The Google Gaggle

I still clearly remember the first time I downloaded a 2nd generation beta version of Google and marveled at it’s sleak, slick, seemingly turbo charged search engine and how well it worked. And like many, I was awe struck at the output of Google Labs and how they constantly broke through one barrier after another; but as with all good things, the ga-ga over Google seems to be slipping away.

It’s hard to say when it really started. We all certainly loved their claim of a corporate theme of “do no harm”, but in a relatively short time their magical facade started to show cracks in the form of employee discontent and the comments from soon to be “former employee’s” that we were being told the big lie, began to expose the inner workings of yet another profit driven company where people mattered far less than profits.

A recent summary by James Whittaker, who left Microsoft for Google, only to return three short years later back to Microsoft exposes a few more not so secret issues over at Google. Nothing really earth shattering, but plenty of conformations of what we already know. Google has sold out for the almighty dollar with no apologies, just a more aggressive search into our everyday lives as lived out on the web.

The bottom line is that Google has gone the same route of other famous names such as Yahoo, AOL, Match Doctor, Lotus, and a lot of lesser known companies. All those great promises, assurances, apologies for change soon get swept aside for a bigger slice of the Internet dollar pie and we, the people that actually make the internet worth having, are the ultimate loosers.

The allure of the internet has long since past. The days before the GUI interface seduced even the most novice user are all but a forgotten memory. And the promise of a commercial free internet … LOL … well, that didn’t even survive the first twelve months.

It helps me better understand my parents and grandparents that got so discouraged as each new “thing” came out that we kids wanted. A transistor radio, followed by a walk man, followed by a CD based system, eventually by those little flash drives with a controller and ear buds. I’m afraid the next one will be some sort of implant … of course with all those piercings out there, how will you ever know???

I guess it would be based on where those piercings are located, but on second thought …. Oh lord, don’t get me started!