When it comes to Google, sometimes it's hard to tell the tricks from the treats. Its mantra is "Do No Evil," and many of its initiatives seem just too good to be true, like its current plan to stem the tide of AIDS and SARS. On the other hand, it's constantly being attacked for making a profit by doing end runs around pesky obstacles like privacy and copyright. Is Google the nice neighbor who hands out full-size candybars at Halloween, or is it more like the psycho who hides razor blades in apples? You be the judge.
1. Chrome
* Treat: Chrome, with its speedy V8 JVM, sandboxed tabs and integrated Gears capabilities has a lot going for it. For enterprises looking to SOA and Web apps, it's definitely sweet.
* Trick: Chrome is also like a Trojan horse, designed to seed Gears everywhere as fast as possible. And its Omnibox feature, with its keystroke reporting capabilities is just plain scary.
2. Book Search
* Treat: How can spreading knowledge be evil (Bible stories aside)? With Book Search, Google took it upon itself to scan every book ever published, making them instantly searchable and accessible to just about anyone.
* Trick: Oh, and with the integrated ad feature, it stands to make a nice profit from the venture, all without paying any copyright royalties. The recent settlement should spread the wealth a bit more evenly, however.
3. Yahoo rescue
* Treat: With Microsoft beating down its door and its stock price plummeting, Yahoo's days looked numbered. That is, until Google stepped in with an ad deal that aims to provide nearly $800 million a year for Yahoo's coffers and make it independently viable in the long run.
* Trick: The deal also lets Google increase its online advertising monopoly, while taking away Yahoo's incentive to be a strong competitor. Pretty tricky.
4. Energy independence
Treat: Wouldn't it be nice if the U.S. could have a clean environment and run its economy on its own, without the help of Middle Eastern or Venezuelan oil? Google thinks so. Its new $4.4 trillion plan promises to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil and "dirty" energy sources by 2030. Pretty sweet.
Trick: Google is one of the largest energy consumers in the country, and it's just covering its profit bases. Plus, it's forays into new sources of energy actually may help it monopolize future business models.
5. YouTube
Treat: Who wouldn't love a free, easy way to post and share videos online? Definitely sweet.
Trick: Besides Google's obvious profit-motive, once again, it's turned something free into something nasty by ignoring copyright issues. And its defense against the big Viacom lawsuit is pretty scary privacy-wise, at least so far.
6. Privacy
Treat: Speaking of privacy, Google recently improved its policy by cutting the amount of time it retains personally identifiable search information from 18 to 9 months, a move that made the EU and other privacy advocates happy.
Trick: A deeper look into the issue reveals that the change doesn't truly mask users' identities at all and was just cosmetic at best. Very tricky.
7. Novel, cool apps
Treat: Most reviewers agree, Google's new Google Earth for the iPhone and its true integration with the iPhone's touch screen interface, is pretty sweet.
Trick: As with all things Google, it packages the sweet with the sour, integrated online advertising.
And those are just the few examples that came to mind this bright Halloween morn. What do you think -- is Google a treat or a trick? Send us your thoughts!
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Spreading knowledge -- Bible stories aside?
What kind of crack was that, and what on earth did it have to do with the subject matter at hand?
The Bible has been and remains a source of wisdom and inspiration for millions of people around the world. Sure, it has been misused by many...the same could be said of IT, Google, Windows, the Internet, and any number of things. Its contributions remain nonetheless real, certainly undeserving of such a cheap shot.
I seriously doubt that a similar crack would have been used referring to the Torah or the Koran, etc.
On the other hand...
My finger hit the button too soon, before I could add:
On the other hand, the phrase "(Bible stories aside)" may refer to the story of the fall of man in the garden, from Genesis. That makes a little more sense, but the statement seems unclear still.
Interestingly enough, however, the article has more than one parallel with the Genesis story: Watch out for the fruit...it may bring with it more than you count on!
The Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil)
I admit I had to take a second glance at the comment to figure where the author was coming from, and then it dawned on me (divine inspiration?). There was a case where the Creator had set up some parameters for human behavior, and in a story common to at least two out of three of the traditions you refer to (I can't speak to the commonalities with the Q'uran), we humans were supposed to keep our hands off the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus, the oblique reference to "spreading knowledge."
Shalom
You are right
Joanne was referring to the Adam and Eve story and the bite from the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.