Imagine Life Without Google

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Date: Sat, 15 Nov 2003 05:58:56 CST

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=12603
Letter of the day
ByThe Letterman: Tuesday 11 November 2003, 10:28
Subject: Imagine Life Without Google

Mike;

Microsoft really, really wants Google. It wants Google for one reason,
namely, to strip it naked and to castrate it. Microsoft wants to put an
end to people being able to use the power of Google, especially as to
the way that we all can use Google as a tool which makes the Internet
particularly useful in helping us all to get through our days without
depending on Microsoft.

Here's an exercise for all to try. Search Google for Linux Windows that
gets you about 14 million pages, even with the English preference or
filter turned on. Now, got to msn.com and search the Microsoft way for
the same two words. You get exactly 18 pages. The word censorship
doesn't seem to do justice to what Microsoft has done to a msn user who
wants to compare Linux with Windows, does it?

Here's another exercise. Search msn for Linux. Note that the third item
returned is tech.msn.com and that the page no longer exists. The fourth
item deals with this topic "Alternatives to Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP
Learn about the Microsoft alternatives and how to move to them from open
source products."

The mind boggles at the amount of fear that Microsoft has that people
who search the Internet for knowledge, answers and understanding.
Microsoft's fear is so great that it is willing to subvert what is truly
one of the great inventions of history, searching the Internet, to a
mere tool with one purpose, namely, to trick us all into buying
Microsoft's software.

I am compelled to describe that this particular Microsoft stunt is
patently, totally, absolutely, completely perverse. I can well imagine
that the founders of Google could not have been able to sleep at night
for the rest of their lives if they had allowed Microsoft to buy and
cynically subvert their creation. After all, they already have more
money than they can possibly spend in their lifetimes, they have a
fantastic life of creative fulfillment ahead of them and they do have,
well, their pride.

A hearty thanks to the founders of Google, then, for not selling Google
to Microsoft, whatever their specific reasons were for not doing so.
And, for the rest of us, a lesson in what the Internet and its resultant
technologies would end up being used for if Microsoft had its way. To
all the users of msn and its so-called "search" feature, I have to say,
wake up & smell the coffee, kids.

Harry Fletcher

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