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No Secret Plan at Google?
daltonlp writes "A number of smart folks have speculated that Google might leverage its computational resources to create some kind of massive online application delivery platform. Here's why they are probably wrong." One of more intelligent insights into Google, and it's pleasantly devoid of theories of Google taking over the world.
They didn't hire Rob and Marc to work on giving you online spreadsheets.
If they did this or an OS, which they wont as the article says wouldn't it cost them and the used massave amounts of bandwidth?
Of their developers spending 20% of their time on pet projects, I wonder how many of those are open source projects of various kinds.
Failures (and business declines) often happen in big chunks: Lawsuit settlement of tens of millions of dollars. Major market shift away from your technology.
This is just smart business. Google will continue to move and enhance and grow in manageable increments. If they try to take over the world, it will be suicidal.
Anyone remember the dot-bomb era? The survivors are those that performed managed growth and bit off pieces that could be chewed. The failures tried to take over the world, and translate eyeballs into unrealistic company valuations. Works for a while, then you get an unemployment check....
They are taking over the world. They plan on taking over the world by not taking over the world. "Hey, Google is nice....they aren't taking over the world" Then before you know it you page ranking what to eat, who your friends are, what car to buy, where to live, where to work.
Then whammo you can't live without Google telling you what to do in nice little browser friendly bites.
Wait nevermind...I already do that.
Lets welcome our Page Ranking pverlords.
People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them
Google Groups = complete usenet archive
This was acquired, not created by Google. And arguably, the old Deja capabilities were better (wild card searching) than what Google currently offers (mainly cosmetic changes and no wildcards). Personally that is what brought me over to Google, not the search engine itself. I was quite happy using Yahoo for targeted categorized searches and metacrawler for more extensive stuff. Google just had that cult of personality thing going and they've been riding the wave ever since. After all, just what makes gmail all that great anyway? I think the ad's are an abomination and I use hushmail.
But...
Google Groups 2 = complete usenet archive, now horrifically crippled by terrible interface
Google Desktop Search = the worst of all the desktop search apps
Picasa 2 = The upgrade that feels like a downgrade
Google Image Search = nigh on useless search engine that often points to images that don't really exist on the web page, or the web page itself even exists.
Its not all good, y'know.
The article highlights that Google developers are allowed to spend 20% of their time on what daltonlp calls "lab projects, personal projects, forever-in-beta projects, whatever".
Google constantly produces revolutionary innovations that noone can foretell. (How many of you thought you would have 1gb of email space for free?)
Conclusion is, I don't quite buy daltonlp's arguments for why it would be impossible that one of these lab projects is to develop browser based os/applications.
I believe Google may be aiming not only at operating systems market. Even today most students, regardless of a discipline, find all the knowledge sources they need using google. Assuming they keep their current position as a search engine, they will effectively bring up entire new generation. Imagine the kind of power it brings. New operating system? How about a new major religion? Or taking over global economy?
Despite that Google isn't out to take over the world their impact on the net is quite amazing.
Google's long standing tech demo that is their search engine has become pretty important. In fact, for the most part, if it doesn't come up on a google search, it doesn't exist.
There have been so many memes spawned from google as well... Google-whacking, google fights, google bombing, etc.
Let's not forget the chaos that ensued when GMail opened up either.
They don't need to take over anything, really, everyone's eating out of the palm of their hand.
designing a viable alternative to the OSes that we have today.
Two words for you: driver support.
OK, I know this is all alleged, so this is all moot, but wasn't the idea behind a Google OS that it would be a hosted OS? In other words we access it remotely, and Google decide on the hardware? Why would a hosted OS need driver support (I'm assuming that Google already have drivers to support the hardware they currently have, etc)?
This is where the serious fun begins.
Gumstix
With platforms like THIS, what you're thinking can't be too far off. A keychain computer. Wouldn't have to be too powerful, it'd just need a small, projectable display and a virtual keyboard.
Luck favors the prepared, darling.
agoogle constantly comes out with USEFUL and credible apps
Google Groups = complete usenet archive
I beg to differ. They have not 'come up' with it. They just bought the dejanews data. Also the new interface is worse then the old version they had. Dejanews was much, much easier to use fronm a Usenet point of view. The old google was not great, but it was OK. What they have now is, to me, completele crap. I rather use Outlook Express instead of Google and I say that as a slrn user.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Geez why would they go the route of a costly infrastructure setup when they already have what they need?
I'll tell you what they're doing, they are using knowledge of what everyone around the whole world is searching for to tap into all kinds of consumer trend and demand opportunities. You know all those shoppers club cards that track your purchases, and credit cards which track all your spending habits? That data is awfully valuable. And Google has the best knowledge in the world. All they have to do is perfect the way the data is organized and packaged to marketing buyers.
For a quick glimpse of the possibilities, let's say you play the stock market. Wouldn't it be brilliant to know what potential investors are really interested in this week, what they have been researching online... well Google knows! I'll be they realize this, and are working on a way to capitalize on it.
Use Scroogle then if your afraid of Google's cookies.
Ubiquitously - A Ubiquity Developer Community
That argument is flawed. Crazy Old Men ranting about electricity is completely different. People rely on their computers, especially in this time=money world.
People weren't commonly using electricity, so they had nothing to lose by trying it (or not trying it for that matter). But as other arguments are saying, that the internet will be as reliable as ever with very little down time, to remove this problem, then it seems like this remote OS could work; Of course this is ignoring the fact that if someone walked by and cut your cable you'd be screwed.
both responses so far missed the point (or maybe got it, but argued against it still). You rely on electricity, right? Without electricity your computer wouldn't run (granted you can have batteries, but that runs out). No one (other than Crazy Old Men) sits around and says "don't rely on a computer because you might have a power failure". We just use our computers, and when the power fails, we wait until it comes back up.
If people come to rely on their internet connections the way they do power, it'll be the same scenario. Like the way we have battery backup and generators, their will be a backup connections for those who really need 24/7 connections. Your fiber connection fails? Use cable/DSL/dial-up/cellular as backup. For example, my cable provider already provides dial-up in addition to cable which I can use if my cable goes down.
#!/
Eventually, they'll be so many redundant cables that this won't be an issue. Losing the Internet will eventually be like losing your power, ie, a rare occurance.
Heck, I'll take that a step further and say it'll be like losing your phone line, ie, a really rare occurance.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
What do you do when your power goes out? I have not had my cable internet connection go out in months and when it does it is rarely longer than a few minutes. The power goes out at least as often and I can't use my PC at all. Then again, you can't really build an emergency internet generator can you...?
Finding other idiots on
OK, first I'd like to clarify that I'm not that interested in a Google OS in the sense of: something you need to have to boot your machine. What I *am* interested in, however, is something like a remotely mounted Googlefs archive of all my files, lovingly backed up and redundantly kept available and, yes, google-searchable at will. And the irony here is this is *just* because:
Actually, NOT having user files on one machine is *precisely* the most practical idea for notebook users. Right now, the biggest pain I go through on a daily basis is syncing everything up. Given my essentially casual nature and the fact that I use any of 4 different PCs and a notebook during the day, this becomes a hassle. Now, sure, some things are already remote mounts from the university, but not everything I have really belongs there, and they have a pretty tiny quota by default.
And as far as wifi not being universal, maybe it's not in some backwater locations, but here in central Missouri it's as good as universal. We have wireless in every building I work in, on campus generally, in every restaurant/coffeeshop I go to regularly, at home (of course). Also at every airport I've been to recently, at the conference site for the last 8 consecutive meetings I've been to, at 7 out of the last 8 hotels I've been to for said conferences... No, it's not completely seemless. Yes, quality has varied. But wireless connectivity in my life really is getting up to complete.
Or I can put it another way: inside of 3 years, you'll be able to buy a notebook computer that will have *no hard disk at all*; it will have 20 gigs of flash, firewire and USB ports, and maybe just maybe a DVD/CD (but I doubt it). Disklessness is where I want to be, and if Google can make it so, I'll pay them actual money for that blessed state.
Babar