While I don't follow your thinking about google, I think that the "special" algorithm for search, at least the original one (pageRank) is not that special. Other people had the same ideas even before - what really made it so successful is their use of commodity hardware IMO, and that was only possible no sooner than late 90ies because linux became good enough (licensing any proprietary unix for 1000s machines would have been difficult). This and the corporate culture - it seems they manage to hire a lot of very talented people, not just engineers, from early on. That's pretty hard to do.
My memory may be a bit rusty on this, but as I remember it in the pre-pagerank days Google were just aggregating the highest results from a bunch of other search engines such as Alta Vista (?) and Yahoo (?) ... which seemed pretty scummy.
As for my 'thinking' on Google, here's the way I see it. I see people giving money to Dell. I see people giving money to HP. I see people giving money to Adobe and Microsoft ($deity only knows why). I even see people giving money to Apple.
When was the last time I saw someone buy something from Google? I've met two or three people with Android phones. yeah, so Google gets what - a $10 royalty? Don't spend it all at once!
Which then raises the question: who/where/when/what on earth is paying for all this 'free' stuff that Google gives away? Surely it must be the advertising!
And if advertising is really the only thing they have bringing home the bacon, eventually the bean counters from advertising are going to run the company (if they don't already). Google maps is awesome, but I never once paid for the privilege... how did they afford to put all those cars on the road eh?
What I see is things like Google buying youtube, and then making it worse by slapping ads on it. I view Google as a modern day King Midas. But they don't turn things to gold, what they touch gets covered in advertising instead.
Secondly, I have noted several instances where Google has been very 'cavalier' (to be generous) with the truth
(no we're not sniffing your wifi. Okay, we're sniffing your wifi, but only accidentally. Okay, we're doing it systematically and deliberately, but we're not storing it. Okay, we're storing it, but nothing important. Okay we're sniffing your passwords, are you happy now?!?!?!)
also privacy (Eric saying he doesn't believe in it - has he been snorting the Zuckerman again?), or even lives
(see also: Chinese dissidents being sold up the river to Beijing by Google)
Google was bending over big time for the oppressive regime, until China tried to hack them, when they suddenly grew a backbone and started standing up to them. That's not character. That's not 'not being evil'.
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NB: me saying Google is not perfect is not the same as saying that some other company is perfect. what I was saying originally is that not only is it unfair to compare Google to Apple because of Apple's unusually good current results, but also they are different kinds of companies, working in mostly different markets (fundamentally Google is an internet based advertising company, and Apple is a media/hardware company - comparing them is like comparing a biotech stock with Walmart, it just doesn't make sense.
Moreover, one of the primary differences in their financial results is that Google is in a saturated market, but Apple is not. It is hard to be a 'growth stock' in a saturated market where you already have a massive monopoly.
Your first point about Google aggregating results from other search engines, please provide a source.
You've met two or three people with Android phones? You must not get out very much because Android passed the iPhone in total monthly activations a while back and just passed them in total phones on the market.
Buying YouTube and slapping ads on it? That was inevitable, whether or not Google bought them, there comes a time in every websites life when it needs to be monetized to it's fullest potential.
As for the whole wi-fi/china/privacy ordeal, you really know how to sensationalize a story. You happen to post on Reddit?
I wasn't commenting on your comparison of Google and Apple, I agree that they are very different companies. But when you say Google isn't innovative, that is not true. Sure, most of their ideas are improving on other companies ideas but that doesn't make it any less innovative. Do you know why so many people are starting to use Chrome? Because it is a fucking perfected browser. The changes Google made were very minimal, but now every browser company is following suit. Going by your logic, no company is innovative because they all just improve upon one another's ideas. Think back to when Gmail was just released. The major competitors were Hotmail and Yahoo. Do you remember their offering? 25mb of space, fucking horrible layout, slow as shit, email search was non existent, and the spam... Oh the wonderful spam.
Sure, Google might be currently receiving a huge chunk of their income from advertising. But with the market control that Google currently has, they can offer any product/service and people will hand over their cash no questions asked. Google has established itself as a trustworthy company that provides amazing products for cheap/free. You mention that every company is selling something except Google. Is Facebook selling anything? Weren't they just valued at $50 billion? Their stock is going public next year? Hmmm... So much for needing a product to sell. Sure, I think valuing Facebook at $50 billion is retarded as fuck but the fact of the matter is, in todays day, information is worth more than any other commodity. And Google has a shit ton of information.
Thanks for your reply. No, I do not post on Reddit. I was looking for a place that wouldn't just descend into one line witty put-downs.
On that basis, even though I disagree with you and think you're way too deep in the Google-cool aid ( :D ), I will vote you up, because I acknowledge your time invested deserves a reward.
It seems like every year I rediscover that arguing with strangers on the internet is pointless. This year I got there by Jan 22 ... a new personal best. Wish you all the best.
Heh, nothing wrong with a bit of debate, as long as it doesn't end in flame wars. Halfway through writing my above post I stopped and thought, is this really worth it? Will I prove anything with this post? And I decided to finish my thoughts because I really was interested in what you have to say in response to my "arguments". Anyways, thanks for not resorting to childish arguments and put-downs like on other sites.
