Hi,
And while I love the original PageRank idea and like most people use Google almost exclusively because it works so well compared to other search engines, I'm a bit wary of the company. They have immense power: Sites that are not in Google's database virtually don't exist for most users, given their near-monopoly status. They almost have a gatekeeper function for information on the internet, making them potentially more powerful than Microsoft in my mind. There already have been examples of Google removing sites from its database without telling anyone (an anti-Scientology website, for example), making the site invisible to most users. Controlling the access to information means power! And now they are trying to get into other information markets like email - I'm not sure I like that. They have mostly played nice until now; let's hope they won't abuse their power in the future.
Or maybe I'm just furious I wasn't allowed to buy Google shares as a non-American ... :P
-Kylearan
Munkay,Aug 25 2005, 01:23 AM Wrote:The two original creators of google.com sold the website/business. As far as I know, they themselves are no longer involved in new google projects.Sergey Brin and Larry Page have developed the search engine and (more importantly) the famous search results ranking algorithm ('PageRank'), have founded the company Google and are still working at the company, being President of Technology and Products respectively (see Google's own list of management). They are still in charge of where Google is heading.
And while I love the original PageRank idea and like most people use Google almost exclusively because it works so well compared to other search engines, I'm a bit wary of the company. They have immense power: Sites that are not in Google's database virtually don't exist for most users, given their near-monopoly status. They almost have a gatekeeper function for information on the internet, making them potentially more powerful than Microsoft in my mind. There already have been examples of Google removing sites from its database without telling anyone (an anti-Scientology website, for example), making the site invisible to most users. Controlling the access to information means power! And now they are trying to get into other information markets like email - I'm not sure I like that. They have mostly played nice until now; let's hope they won't abuse their power in the future.
Or maybe I'm just furious I wasn't allowed to buy Google shares as a non-American ... :P
-Kylearan
There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, "This is new, and therefore better." - John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider