∞ /notes/alas-google | 2008-09-24 | web

Alas, Google

Google's 10th anniversary also marks its succeeding Microsoft as the perceived number one evil software company: I've heard a guy on the radio recommending using IE over Chrome since Microsoft's business interest is selling software while Google's is collectiong (your) data. And there's some truth to it. Google came a long way, and I liked it quite some time along that way. I remember the first time Google's bundling of data made me feel a bit uncomfortable: when they aquired Deja News and what was an obscure archive of Usenet messages, which only Usenet users knew about, became part of the search engine everybody used. Well, it took a few more years for them to overtake Microsoft in perceived evilness. And that probably is required in the greater scheme of bringing down the seemingly intangible giant Microsoft. That scheme's shape seems to be disclosed with Chrome, the final step in replacing Microsoft Office.