Google amazes me by the quality products and features they continually spin out and acquire. On a regular (if not daily) basis I use the following Google products for the following reasons:
- Search - need I explain?
- Blogger - simple, which is perfect for me, a beginner blogger
- Reader - fantastic. I love the folder option.
- Financial - I love the ajax charts, but they do lack in historical financials
- Maps - a thousand times more accurate than Mapquest plus they just implemented Street View which is extremely cool
- Text - I text for phone numbers and directions at least once a week
- Docs and Spreadsheets (previously Writely) - a great way to work while on the road
- Wiki (previously Jotspot) - not too shabby, but am excited to see how the Google engineers will improve it
- Photos (previously Picassa) - the Mac web loading tool and the sharing functionality are my favorites
- Gmail / Gchat - fantastic
- Google Enterprise - my employing firm is in the midst of switching to Google Enterprise and I expect it to be a ton better than our current offering
- Calendar - I love the fact that I can create numerous calendars, have the option to share them while storing all the info online
- Homepage - nice, easy, ajax layout with many options. Plus they have added tabs.
- Video (previously Youtube) - I have only used a little as I am not a big video watcher
On top of that, I have been meaning to check out Google Patents and Google Checkout, though have not done so as of yet.
There is a lot of discussion in the news right now concerning the Google acquisition of DoubleClick because not only is the price tag hefty ($3.1 Billion) but because of the power Google is starting to amass. For instance, just looking at my list above I get a little nervous about the info they have gathered on me. Let’s see, they will absolutely know my name, career, hobbies, email, schedule, stocks of interest, search terms, photos and if I used Google Checkout my credit card!
Business Week released a story in April concerning this powerful giant and how its power might actually start going against it’s “Do no evil” logo. According to the article,
“This awesome data-gathering capability seriously worries some thinkers. Tech historian George Dyson, author of Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution og Global Intelligence, thinks Google actually might pose a national defense concern at some point simply by virtue of it singularly massive storehouse of data, the crude oil of the Information Economy.”
The Google model is appealing to consumers as so many products and features are free. However, nothing really is free. Rather than monetary payment, consumers are paying with submission of their privacy. Perhaps I need to start re-thinking my addiction.
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