The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry)

A. I think the author means that Google has become so large, an international corporation, and dominates so thoroughly as a search engine and as a provider of content that the everyday person has no choice in the matter. It's like a monopoly, one monkey is running the whole show. Q. Are you convinced now, after reading the book, that there's cause for concern? A. No, because the author seems to glorify Google as much as he decries Google's monopolization. He lauds their work as much as he deplores their growing control of information. However, to be fair, he does constantly reiterate that Google is out for its own profit, as a corporation. The stockholders rule, not the public, so that's the bottom line. I think, in the end, he proposes, as he did in a court brief he filed when American publishers sued Google over copyrights, that information storage and organization become a public utility, more along the lines of our current libraries, or that libraries handle this function, not Google. He comes up with the name "Human Knowledge Project," and says its analogous to the "Human Genome Project." Q. So what's your take on the whole situation? A. The author, like Google itself, has a bias: He works for a university and he does not really acknowledge this conflict of interest. He proposes a project that his university can be involved in to gather and dispense knowledge, in place of Google. But the conflict is there, since the university is paying his salary. Q. What about his writing style? A. Dry, not very user friendly. I expected more from a media professor, but he does the best he can. Also, style-wise, he loses focus often. He thinks getting into the politics of China is important to point out Google's hegemony in other areas, but he goes too far into political China, I think. He does this in several areas, verges off the main question and drags in a lot of extraneous material. Maybe this is what he had to do to actually create an entire book. Q. So do you recommend the book to readers? A. Skim it. Read the headings and maybe the first sentence of each paragraph. Read more deeply if your interest is aroused. There are some things to be learned in the book, but it might get boring for the general reader. That's why it's better to skim or speed read.

Clearly, The Googlization of Everything is the leading scholarly work on Google and its manifold cultural, technological, and legal implications. The work is neither a panegyric (like some of its predecessors); nor is it a jeremiad. This book is impressive for the breadth and depth of its analysis, and its compact, modular structure. Siva Vaidhyanathan has strong case studies, and a good eye for detail. He has an engaging style. The work stands out for its impressive breadth of its reference. The work is a sustained critical appreciation of Google - particularly highlighting questions of privacy, competition, human rights, and access to knowledge. It is particularly sharp at critiquing shibboleths about Google's stance on China, internet freedoms, and human rights. The work is certainly prescient - given the recent ruling in respect of the proposed Google Book Search settlement. The conclusion calls for a Human Knowledge Project - following on from the Human Genome Project. The ending is a touch utopian - but it certainly is consistent with the over-arching argument that there needs to better public stewardship of knowledge.

AÀA BOSS NETWORK