Where Google is Taking Us

I shudder to think what would happen if we were suddenly stricken with a lack of internet, or for that matter, a lack of communication and information-gathering technology in general. We might note that certainly for our generation, internet has become, as Veblen has put it, part of our base-level living package. Google has definitely been a big part of it becoming so, and seems likely to continue in that fashion.

It seems that Google's "Ten things we know to be true" are a craftily named mission statement--we see first that they are "true" and then watch them applied to Google itself. In the list of ten, I notice a couple of themes that definitely speak the language of the direction in which our world is headed. There is a definite focus on the individual. The user is important. Self must be satisfied. You do not have to be at work or in an office. You do not have to be in a suit. You can be home, by yourself, seeking out great information. A second focus is placed on convenience. According to Google, fast is better than slow. Information ought to cross all borders. Instant information at the fingertips is a necessity. There's always more information out there to get, to read, to see. A third focus that I see is placed on success. Google has found that Democracy on the web works. You must do one thing really, really well. Great isn't good enough--you must be the best.

Aren't these the same things we hear around us every day--the intense focus on the individual, the focus on convenience, the focus on success? If we are already headed in this direction, I see Google taking us further in the next few years. The search for efficiency goes on, the "need" for immediate information keeps growing. We already see the advertisements change as our search on the web changes. We already see pages and pages of resources within a fraction of a second. We already work from our homes as conveniently as we can at an office. But as stated in Google's top ten, this is not enough. The search will go on. Great just isn't good enough.