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Is Google a bigger threat than Microsoft?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by GreenMachine, Nov 24, 2005.

  1. GreenMachine

    GreenMachine New Member

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    Here are some of the things they are telling us about. What else is in the works? What about privacy? copyrights?

    Alerts
    Receive news and search results via email
    Local
    Find local businesses and services
    Answers
    Ask a question, set a price, get an answer
    Maps
    View maps and get directions
    Blog Search
    Find blogs on your favorite topics
    Mobile
    Use Google on your mobile phone
    Book Search
    Search the full text of books
    News
    Search thousands of news stories
    Catalogs
    Search and browse mail-order catalogs
    Scholar
    Search scholarly papers
    Directory
    Browse the web by topic
    SMS
    Use text messaging for quick info
    Froogle
    Shop smarter with Google
    Special Searches
    Search within specific topics
    Groups
    Create mailing lists and discussion groups
    University Search
    Search a specific school's website
    Images
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    Web Search
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    Do more with search

    Google Tools

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    A Google approach to email


    Or, are they simply benign?
     
    #1 GreenMachine, Nov 24, 2005
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Welcome to the global village. There are few secrets in a village :_>
     
    #2 richard schumacher, Nov 24, 2005
  3. Vagabond

    Vagabond Active Member

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    Knowledge is power. How you use all these things google is giving you is up to you. They've made learning alot easier.
     
    #3 Vagabond, Nov 24, 2005
  4. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    I don't understand the use of the work "threat". How is any of this a threat? We can choose not to participate. Most of the stuff that is acessible, is simply easier to access now. Things that are private are still private. The concern I have is that the EASE of finding this stuff makes it more of a problem. If I feel threatened, I will simply "unplug" myself. It CAN be done.
     
    #4 Schmika, Nov 24, 2005
  5. LaughingMan

    LaughingMan Active Member

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    The thing that makes me concerned about the rise of Google is that they are in the business of cataloguing all types of information...

    There is a threat that that information will be distilled to a point where it will lose all context...

    Look at Google News for example. It's a good resource, but you have to remember that this is a machine, an algorithm doing the work of a newspaper editor... instead of a human being deciding what appears on the front page, what's important, and providing context, it becomes a matter of news article popularity...

    Is this a problem? maybe...

    Watch this: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/epic
     
    #5 LaughingMan, Nov 24, 2005
  6. GreenMachine

    GreenMachine New Member

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    Food for thought:

    " Beware the Google Threat"
    http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,67982,00.html

    Microsoft sees Google as a threat to them. Do a search using google threat microsoft and you get numerous hits on this very subject.
     
    #6 GreenMachine, Nov 24, 2005
  7. Schmika

    Schmika New Member

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    I had no clue about how much ws out there. I am not so much scared OF the technology...more of how it can be used for evil purposes.
     
    #7 Schmika, Nov 25, 2005
  8. LaughingMan

    LaughingMan Active Member

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    It's not just a matter of privacy... that's one aspect of the concern we have about google...

    The other aspect is the 4th estate... journalism. Google's business is in information, getting as much of it as possible to as many people in the amount of time it takes to do a search.

    The food for thought part is, does what Google is doing now threaten to end journalism as we know it? This is really more of a question of the information age in general... you can roll into the picture the rise of blogging, the vast amount of useless and/or questionable information on the Internet... with Google keeping it all accessible and easily searchable... will this be the end of the traditional forms of news? And if it is, has anyone thought of what this new media that will succeed the traditional media will be like?

    Will it be better, easier to consume, or will it be just a big tabloid with no sense of quality information anymore?

    Eventually it will not matter that you "unplug" yourself and choose not to participate in Google's services... eventually this will have profound impact into the way we consume all media, but have we really thought it through?

    Watch the EPIC 2015 link I posted before if you're interested!
     
    #8 LaughingMan, Nov 26, 2005
  9. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    As you are involved in law enforcement, surely you must be aware of the ridiculous ease of Identity Theft? Part of the problem is that too much personal information is in the Public domain.

    As more folks come to trust and depend on Google's view of the world, that opens up very troubling issues of accuracy.
     
    #9 jayman, Nov 26, 2005
  10. GreenMachine

    GreenMachine New Member

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    Take a look at:

    http://www.google-watch.org/bigbro.html

    Among the points made:

    "Google's toolbar is spyware:
    With the advanced features enabled, Google's free toolbar for Explorer phones home with every page you surf, and yes, it reads your cookie too. Their privacy policy confesses this, but that's only because Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit when their toolbar did the same thing, and their privacy policy failed to explain this. Worse yet, Google's toolbar updates to new versions quietly, and without asking. This means that if you have the toolbar installed, Google essentially has complete access to your hard disk every time you connect to Google (which is many times a day). Most software vendors, and even Microsoft, ask if you'd like an updated version. But not Google. Any software that updates automatically presents a massive security risk.

    Google's cache copy is illegal:
    Judging from Ninth Circuit precedent on the application of U.S. copyright laws to the Internet, Google's cache copy appears to be illegal. The only way a webmaster can avoid having his site cached on Google is to put a "noarchive" meta in the header of every page on his site. Surfers like the cache, but webmasters don't. Many webmasters have deleted questionable material from their sites, only to discover later that the problem pages live merrily on in Google's cache. The cache copy should be "opt-in" for webmasters, not "opt-out."

    Google is not your friend:
    By now Google enjoys a 75 percent monopoly for all external referrals to most websites. Webmasters cannot avoid seeking Google's approval these days, assuming they want to increase traffic to their site. If they try to take advantage of some of the known weaknesses in Google's semi-secret algorithms, they may find themselves penalized by Google, and their traffic disappears. There are no detailed, published standards issued by Google, and there is no appeal process for penalized sites. Google is completely unaccountable. Most of the time Google doesn't even answer email from webmasters. "
     
    #10 GreenMachine, Nov 26, 2005
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