The Clout of Google

At first, I resisted the temptation of Google. Sure, I use the search engine (who doesn't?) And then there were Google maps, which quite naturally led to flying all over Earth. And of course my pictures conveniently uploaded to Picassa - the photo sharing site. No harm there.

Then along came Gmail and that fine print - the privacy policy that basically says NOTHING is private:

Google maintains and processes your Gmail account and its contents to provide the Gmail service to you and to improve our services. 

So I decided my relationship with Google would have to stop. Not that there was anything in my emails all that exciting (most, in fact, would put any algorithm into hibernation). But I wasn't sure I was happy with Google's real gig - targeted advertising based on your email content and habits.

Then I fell for Notes - the handy little Web clipping service. Next came Docs - great tool for collaborating, editing and sharing documents. Then Blogger (here now),  Chrome (quick, sleek browser for PCs) and Sites (free wikis with privacy settings - to all but Google of course). So

I'm giving up and selling out to Google. Call me fickle.

It's all about cloud computing, you see. Google is taking on Microsoft by reaching into the atmosphere. The idea is that all our info will be posted to the great Google Web cloud in the sky - which means we can access it from anywhere. No more leaving an email behind in Outlook Express. With Google, you can access all your information from any computer that's online. Of course, so can Google (there's the rub).

Check out Planet Google, a newly released book that shows how Google is taking over virtually all our computer habits. The back cover (not shown on Amazon) says that Google's information about a user will eventually become so specific that the search engine will be able to answer questions like..."What should I do today?"..."What job shall I take?"

Hal? ... Eliza? Are you listening?