nan | 楠木

There was an article yesterday on the New York Times, adequately titled Relax, Bill Gates; It’s Google’s Turn as the Villain, which covers the Google phenomenon.

Indeed, Google has already risen from its humble beginnings and transformed into another industry giant. Its reaches are everywhere. From its home base in the search engine, now Google covers vastly different areas of the internet industry. Mail. Desktop. Satellite imaging. And now Instant Messaging.

I’ve come to realize, when something as big as Google comes out, nobody can be left unimpressed. But impressions are mixed―you either loved it, or you gradually learnt to hate it.

People are starting to compare Google with the Microsoft that all of us just love to hate. Indeed, Google has similar aims. Its dream would be a world where nothing can function without it. Just like nearly all computers run on Windows.

Already, I’m beginning to feel the immense influence Google has on me, an average net user. My most preferred mail is Gmail, because it is simple, fast and reliable. Plus it has a cool sounding name. If I want to find anything on my computer, and I do mean anything―from a application to a phrase in a word document, I just type it in Desktop Search, and I don’t have to wait several minutes―not at all like using the search provided with My Computer―I get the results instantly, just as if I’m googling online.

And now with Google Talk (which is all about instant messaging and VOIP) and the new version of Desktop Search, which is really a cover-it-all smartass sidebar―with advanced customized news, blogging, pictures, weather, stocks info―it is starting to feel like Google is rooted down into my PC.

All those features are great, and I love it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I want everything to be made by Google. People are paranoid, and I’m especially, and I just don’t like the feeling that one company is having so much control on information. Worse, how I access information. If we say that Microsoft controls the way most people use the computer, then suffice to say Google is starting to control the way most people use the internet. And if it hasn’t done so already, no doubt that’s what it’s planning to do.

With all that said, I guess I’m still on the Google lovers’ side. It’s a kickass company, and I love the way they feel they can do anything―and they are indeed doing everything. That bold spirit is something I really admire. Still, I am getting a little uneasy with how far their spirit has carried them…

And here’s New York Times coverage of Google’s two new software releases:

Google gets better. What’s up with that?