Googlistic Expectations

Really, is there any Internet trend or technology that Google isn’t working towards becoming involved with or at the very least, tracking on their ginormous radar? Or is it better to ask, is there any technology that Google is actively developing/courting that doesn’t relate to their end goal, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful?”

Its interesting to me how this statement relates to GoogleTalk and its relation to information in general. It’s clearly more than just about *search* to them — its about access and making information useful. Contextually relevant. Shareable. Communicable. (although this might make it sound like a disease. Perhaps I should have stopped at sharable…).

While they are most certainly a big entity and may very well be seeking world domination (who am I to say), I do really think that libraries have much to learn from the diverse interests that Google (and companies like Yahoo for that matter) have shown in exploring the tools that allow linkages between information and people. It isn’t just about information silos, It isn’t just about strong search. It’s also about enabling users to be able to create, organize, find and then find again, find and then find what Bob and Mary also found, and then to go on and create new sorts of information, and so on,

What’s my point?

I don’t know. This is a lowly blog posting so I may be justified in not having one. However, I personally find just a little bit of inspiration each time Google makes another announcement of a beta service that takes their company to the next level. I take the same pleasure when I hear that a library is taking a shot at providing IM via AIM or MSN, even if they’re not sure exactly what will come of it. A shot at setting up an institutional repository. A shot at running a blog service. A shot at trying a podcast or a screencast. A shot at providing books as MP3s, or marketing the newest streaming music service. Sure, it’s not the same scale as Google, but its a step forward nonetheless. what the heck, what do we really have to lose? I can sure think of a few things that could be gained.

While catching up with the Google blog I noticed a few interesting posts on their eagerness to provide SMS services, starting with simple service announcements and gong on to discuss other features still in the works. I also read that Google Desktop 2 will feature a strong Outlook search plugin that will spin Clippy right off his Word doc. Bravo.
A shout out to Sheri for yet another useful post on the whole GoogleTalk topic. I was feeling momentarily left out of the fun–now that I’m a Mac addict and all–but her instructions on setting up a gmail account with Jabber and Adium came to the rescue. Spotting the link on her page to the End the Lockout CBC blog was just gravy to my day. My morning drive to work just hasn’t been the same since the programming went south.
Wordpress users may want to give Spotpress a try. Cosmetic, yes. But I find it to be so much better and much more functional than the default Wordpress admin interface.

Bookmark it:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.