Disturbing Description of Google

September 4, 2010

This item could be categorized under “CEOs And Their Scary Ideas.” We get a look at Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s dystopian view of the future in an article at gawker.com. “Google’s CEO Has Scary Ideas For Children” outlines an odd idea. According to the article, “he predicts, apparently seriously, that every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful frolics stored on their friends’ social media sights…” Can this be true? The article expresses concerns about society as a whole not fully understanding what happens when everything is available, knowable, and recorded by everyone all the time. That’s definitely a valid concern. If you need a name-change at the end of childhood, how do you escape your sins as an adult? Not all indiscretions are youthful. I recall that the top Googler was annoyed at one Web news outfit for writing about Mr. Schmidt using information publicly available via Google. Hmmm. Two sets of rules? Do these “fluid rules” apply to individuals who write about liaisons and those about whom one writes? Maybe the rules are situational? Logical, Capt. Kirk.

Stephen E Arnold, September 4, 2010

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, News, Online (general)

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.