What If You Google "Google"?

Two guys are slumped over drinks in a bar. Says one to the other, "I was the vice president of research. Then, I was replaced by Google."

Google has seeped into our cultural fabric. The word "Google" is no longer merely a company's name. "Google it" is part of our vocabulary much the same as Kleenex, Xerox, Q-tip and Coke. Employers Google job prospects, singles Google blind dates' names, and students Google for research papers. As a matter of fact, to give credit where it belongs, the lead joke is from The New Yorker, so Google is also part of our humor.

Out of curiosity, I Google search for the term "Google" came up with 707,000,000 hits. Not too shabby. We have maps, news, videos, groups, images, earth, directory, toolbar and more.

Google has its pros and cons. Google is convenient. Users can verify the population of Zimbabwe or a mailing address for The Hague in a moment. Before Google, tracking down these bits of information could consume half a work day. On the flip side, Google is too convenient. Students refuse to do research without Google. Why should a student photocopy pages from a book when he can cut, paste and paraphrase straight from a Google query?

We love Google. What would we do without it. It's quick, easy and sufficient for most efforts. Google, as other new technology, continues to push our boundaries and make us examine new issues. The feature Street View has raised the question of privacy. New York Times interviewed a woman who was concerned because the Street View images captured her house with so much detail that her cat, Monty, showed up. She succinctly raised the issue, where do you show images and where do you zoom in on someone's life. Privacy cases often look at whether there was an expectation of privacy. Features such as Street View may begin to change our expectation of privacy.

If we weren't moving forward with technology, we would be moving back because there is no such thing as standing still.

Google technology has changed how we work. Information on demand and at our fingertips - sounds like a real timesaver, right? Perhaps. There is a study that examines whether technology has given us more leisure time. The study concludes no, that the only invention that has actually freed up time has been the washing machine. I wonder who invented the washing machine?

I'll Google it.