Week 5

Is Google Good or Evil?


I feel that there Google is a great invention in terms of being a search engine. For many years since I started my first year in college in 2000 until now, it has been a reliable tool when searching for useful resources for past research projects. I have never used it for anything else until starting my technology and education class this semester and creating my first blog using this website (blogspot.com).

Upon reading the article "Google-Don't Be Evil", I never really knew all the controversial things that Google is doing. I knew about the controversy over the huge internet firewall placed on Tibet searches and any other information deemed harmful by the Chinese Govt in the news not long ago, but I didn't know much about any other controversy that Google had. I was surprised to learn about the "nothing is deleted" policy on emails, copyright infringements with digital books, negotiations to hand over personal information to different countries, Youtubes policies, the street cam feature on Google maps, and various other controversial things.

It really doesn't surprise me that Google, who is becoming a very large company and is a global player in the internet world, would be involved with controversial things. I know their policy is "Don't be evil" and they don't like to be compared with Microsoft, but like any in-for-profit companies, they still operate on the principal that making profit is the biggest priority. No matter they claim or what image they want to project for themselves, they wouldn't be in business if it wasn't for profit. They will do whatever it takes to keep their business operating efficiently even if it means doing controversial things and alienating some customers.

Still, I feel just because of these controversies, it is no reason to stop using Google. As I stated before, they do have a great search engine. Google also has a lot of useful tools too that can be helpful both at home and in a classroom. All I can say is before using a Google program or service, make sure you "carefully" read the online contracts before you click on agree. That is where companies take advantage of people when they are downloading or using some free software or service and it is the responsibility of the user to read a contract thoroughly before using it.