Google vs. Microsoft: Do you want Google to be your 'librarian'?

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the things wrong with this article

The Things wrong with this article

1. It's posted by Donna Bogatin, who can't seem to write a fair word where google is concerned. Every article I've ever read by her is anti-google, with no amount of balance. I'm convinced she's secretly someone's attack dog.

2. The main bit, about why universities should be indexing all of our content, instead of a company, is written by a representative of a university. There is probably no bias in her opinion.

3. The article is arguing that making freely available information easier to access is in some way a bad thing. As I understand civilization, the easier it is for freely available information to flow, the better it is...for just about everybody. Except the guys who have a vested interest in you getting the information only from them.

4. It's posted by Donna Bogatin, who still hasn't written a balanced article about google, as far as I can tell.

5. Assumptions: The article assumes that Google will go away, and that universities and libraries will last forever. It also assumes that universities and libraries always have information's best interest at heart. I can just imagine a time when someone had the idea for a Public Libary, and the goofy reasons people had for why it was a dumb idea. "Private libraries are so much better and organized"..."Who will fund the Public Library?".

The great thing about humanity is, at least recently, we seem to be keeping the ideas that work, and throwing out at least some of the ones that don't work. Universities work out pretty good for keeping knowledge. But it's hard for me to get at that knowledge if the university is far away, or the books are checked out, or if I can't figure out the dewey decimal system.

In the end, if Google fails at its task, or gives up on this project, then it doesn't matter anyway. Technology will help the spread of information, even if Google doesn't do it.

They must have copy protection to protect copyright holders. This is life. They also must protect what makes their business competetive. This is also life. If you don't like it, you don't have to join up, but it's not exactly unfair or new.

Privacy concerns 1: google indexes all my old crap on the internet that I dont' want people to see. Answer: you shouldn't have put it on the internet in the first place. Google isn't responsible for your stupidity.

Privacy concerns 2: google will report my viewing habits to The Man. Answer: well, The Man does this to libraries too. He better have a warrant. If he doesn't, the legal system needs to change, because it effects google and libraries/universities equally. Google may be less resistant than the most resistent librarians, but The Man holds sway over both.

There is one last concern: google will be the ONLY holder of all information. Personally, I think this isn't really going to be a problem. Google is trying to provide a utility, a tool. Someday they may be the new Microsoft, beating us as customers around, but they aren't now. Remember what microsoft gave us: the PC revolution, the rise of the internet as we use it now.

What if google could make such drastic changes with information?

Posted by: davebsr   Posted on: 10/03/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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